Musings of a King
by Ayns and Sky
Summary: Sky: A collection of one-shot type stories from Puck. Kinda sister story to "Flip", which was my original one-shot on this concept. All told from Puck's POV, random scenes from the books. First chapter: when Puck saves Sabrina from the Jabberwocky
1. Oh Great, They Have a Jabberwocky

**A/N:**

**Sky:** Well, people really seemed to like "Flip", and asked me to do more scenes. I wanted Flip to be a one-shot, so I decided if I had the urge for more Puck reactions, I could just put them here instead. They won't be in chronological order or anything like that, so each A/N will explain where in the series this is taking place. The conversations and actions (unless horribly skipped over) will be mostly verbatim. I don't want to change the scene itself, I'm just gonna add more emotional content. I'm also not re-writing all the details, especially since those details in the book are mostly Sabrina's POV. It'll seem a bit rushed, but the story'll mostly be in Puck's head anyway.

So these'll be scenes people either wanted elaborations on, or scenes I found to be lacking and displeased with :3 Feel free to leave suggestions of scenes you'd like to see done.

Dunno when I'll update this, it's mostly something to do while I wait for Ayns to get off work and get on AIM. UNRELATED TO OUR EPIC STORY, and please don't compare our writing. We write together and enjoy it, we don't need anyone telling us I suck and she's better or she sucks and I'm better, that's just unhelpful. All other reviews will be appreciated ^^

**This chapter is told from Puck's POV and takes place in book 3 when Puck saves Sabrina from the Jabberwocky. Bribri reviewed Flip and said they'd like that, and to be honest, I wanted to do the whole thing anyway. Bit long, sorry ^^; (Sorry this one was gonna be short but I felt like doing the WHOLE thing…) And I hope it's not OOC. As I said before, I'm wary about playing Puck, that's usually Ayns' job.  
**

Bonus points if you get the reference from the title name ^^!

**_*****_**

**_Musings of a King_**

**_Chapter One: Oh Great, They Have a Jabberwocky_**

**_*****_**

Of course the timing was awful. Nothing ever went right anymore, did it? It wasn't supposed to be that way. I was royalty. If the timing was wrong, someone else came in and made it right, and if something wasn't going according to plan, someone should have been fixing it for me. I got what I wanted, and no one opposed me.

Well, that wasn't true anymore. One person always opposed me, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun most of the time. She had a certain knack for messing up my plans and getting herself in trouble. It was usually funny.

Then again, I was supposed to be some kind of protector now—completely incognito, that is. I didn't need that kind of reputation leaking out.

The idiot (I refused to think of her as anything else considering the situation she'd put us in) had gone through a magical portal against the wishes of the old lady to try and save her parents. Good intentions, I'm sure, but she is without a doubt, like I said, an idiot. Like they wouldn't be guarded by something; if it had been that easy, you'd think the old lady would have done something already.

Normally I enjoy being right. I mean, who doesn't? But in this case it meant a huge creature with a lot of teeth about to eat my most entertaining victim. Back to the original point about timing, Sabrina 'the idiot' Grimm had screamed the moment she'd seen the Jabberwocky, and like an identical idiot, I'd gone into the portal to get her. The plan could have worked, except the moment I'd announced my plan to rescue her, the portal had closed behind us. Just peachy. So there we were, stuck in some random place with a huge angry monster.

When the Jabberwocky hit her, I was pretty sure she was a goner. I mean, the thing had smacked her so hard even MY head hurt. Luckily, it only took a moment to realize it had knocked her out for a second or two. The last thing I needed was Sabrina Grimm dying on my watch. The idea didn't sit well with me at all, and I yelled at the Jabberwocky to keep it from eating her while she was asleep. The big oaf didn't budge off of her, but it seemed to be watching me, which was a good thing.

When she opened her eyes, she seemed to notice the Jabberwocky towering over her, putting a lot of weight on one of her arms. Looked broken. Ouch. She closed her eyes again, then opened them—but not because she was dazed, I noted. Was she going insane or thinking that playing dead would work? It wouldn't, by the way.

"Fudge," Grimm whispered, and I knew at once that was the best word she could use without cursing.

Hah! She thought she'd been dreaming. Yeah, right!

"Well, _good morning!" _I called to her, taunting now that I knew she was still alive and her brain hadn't been scrambled. (More than usual anyway)

"Puck?"

No, it's the Ghost of Christmas Past. Who else would it be? Jeez.

"Did we wake you? So sorry!" I scowled in her direction, contemplating just how much work I'd have to do to get us both out of this situation. She owed me, big time.

"Could you get this thing off of me?"

She sounded so calm. Like moving a Jabberwocky was that easy. Well, it was for me, but that was beside the point. I wasn't her errand boy. "It's gonna cost you."

"What?" She tried to find me with her eyes, probably to complain.

"I figure if I'm going to have to save your butt every time you get into trouble, I may as well be paid for it," I said simply. "The going rate for this kind of job is seven million dollars."

"Where am I going to get seven million dollars? I'm eleven years old!" She complained.

Eh, I'd let her sort that one out later. "And I want all your desserts for the next six months," I added, figuring that one would be more likely while I waited for the cash payout. Not that I necessarily expected her to be able to pay it, but it would be a fun excuse to do something else to her later.

She took her sweet time agreeing, too. I didn't budge. Why save her if she was going to be so ungrateful for my services? It was when the beast's ugly purple tongue darted out and licked her in the face that she finally spoke again, shouting "Fine!"

I would have preferred something more fitting, like "Thank you for such a gracious offer, of course I'd be happy to pay", but I let it slide and jumped into the air, flipping and grabbing a light fixture hanging from the ceiling. Once I had enough momentum, I swung down onto the creature feet first, then jumped back off and flipped, giving an extra show of flourish when I landed perfectly by Grimm's head.

I flashed her my most mischievous grin and helped her to her feet. No doubt she was impressed. "Did you see that landing, Grimm? I wanted to make sure you get your money's worth."

She just scowled—how rude, she didn't look awed—and I'd made it look so good, too! And I hadn't even made her get off her butt on her own.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Long enough for me to get old big-and-ugly here pretty angry," I answered, watching the Jabberwocky recover and charge us. Maybe I shouldn't have milked the landing.

My wings popped out and fluttered behind me reliably. I grabbed the back of her coat and jumped into the air, narrowly missing the attack. She probably hadn't even noticed my quick thinking.

"I've got the big one," I told her, setting her back down so I could have my hands free. "You take the little one," I didn't glance over at the little girl in the corner when I said it, giving Grimm more credit than I should have. Hopefully she wouldn't stand there like an idiot and make me have to rescue her again.

Due to the fact that I had to fight the Jabberwocky, I wasn't paying much attention to Grimm or her broken arm. It wasn't until the psycho little girl started ranting about kitties and fires that I realized what was about to happen.

I avoided the flames with ease, but I noticed Grimm wasn't paying attention to the Jabberwocky. I spoke without thinking, shouting at her. "Sabrina, duck!" Great, I'd slipped up and used her first name. I'd have to voluntarily take a bath to get that moment off.

Luckily she did as she was told, and the stream of molten fiery breath shot over her head, just inches from burning her face off. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath until a large tail smashed into me and I crashed into a wall, getting the wind knocked out of me in one rush. It wasn't like me to get distracted like that, and I was too stunned to think much about it.

The next thing I felt was something really hot on my shirt, followed by small hands smacking against me to put out flames. Noting that it was Sabrina, I pushed myself up and stepped in front of her, scowling at the Jabberwocky. What kind of protector would I be if I let Sabr-that idio-Grimm, get eaten? "C'mon, ugly. I'm just getting started," I taunted, snatching my sword and smacking it on the snout once.

Right before I was about to unleash what would have most likely been the killing blow, a portion of the ceiling collapsed right on the ugly thing, knocking it back and making it stagger away. Yay, except the ceiling was still falling, and we were next.

I yanked Grimm with me to safety while the ceiling fell in miserable burning chunks all around us. It was definitely time to go. "I think this party is over."

"Wait!" Sabrina tried to go back into the mess, her voice a shout to rise above the roaring fire. "There could be a clue here to where she took my parents!"

"Any clue is kindling now," I said, resisting the urge to smack her. Did she enjoy being in constant danger, or was this some kind of punishment for me? I was really earning that seven mil. "If you get killed, the old lady will never let me hear the end of it."

The smoke was black and thick, and it tasted awful. I was trying to rush, but Grimm kept looking into the rooms we passed. What, did she want a tour?

Aha! Above us was an exit sign, meaning we could get out of the stupid hallway of smoke and choking. I forced it open and nearly got knocked off my feet by wind and snow, smacking me in the face like an icy slap. That sucked.

Bringing my hand up, I peered through my fingers and squinted. It was way too windy, we were gonna have to hoof it. "We're in the mountains, I think," I called to her.

"Can you fly us out of here?"

…Yeah sure, let me get my magic wand. Idiot.

"The wind is too strong," I said with as much patience as I could manage, helping her out. I wanted to grimace when I saw that her arm really was broken and in bad shape. She was probably too helpless to do much on her own.

That made me feel weird. I couldn't describe it, and I didn't really like it. But I still wrapped an arm around her and helped her through the snowdrifts in silence.

Of course, it didn't help that the Jabberwocky had followed us. In no time at all, we were running for our lives again, the wind harsh and cold on our faces. I wasn't exactly sure where we were—well, not until we came to the four-hundred-foot drop at the top of a steep hill. Just great, we had nowhere to go but down!

"Puck, I…"

I turned to her. Oh great, was she about to confess her feelings or something? Girls always fall for the heroes. I didn't really like this transition from villain to hero that she was seeing, it was all wrong. I had to cut her off. She couldn't fall for me. I was the _villain. _

"I know what you are going to say and I think it's an excellent idea. I'll leave you here and save myself."

"That's not what I was going to say at all!" She shouted. Was she blushing? Hah! Liar. "I was going to ask if you had any ideas for getting us out of this."

If I'd had any, didn't she think I'd have done something? "Grimm, you usually handle the running and crying part." What else would we do, really?

She looked away, eyes fixed on the steep, snow-covered hill in front of us.

Bleh. Maybe I should let her confess her feelings and get it over with; we were both about to be eaten.

"If only we had a sled," she mumbled, before I could speak.

A sled? I had something much better, what an awesome idea! Mine, not hers.

I got down on my hands and knees.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

I resisted the urge to respond with sarcasm. Too much joking and I might get her killed. "Climb on my back," I told her instead. "I've got an idea."

Once she was on, I transformed my face into that of a walrus. They were so freaking cool, with their tusks and huge teeth. If it wasn't such a serious situation, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

"Okay, what now?"

Now we have tea and talk about our feelings. Jeez!

"Grab my tusk."

"Grab your what?"

I turned to her in exasperation, noting her cringe. Luckily, she did what I told her to.

"Please don't do this," she whimpered. "This is such a bad idea."

Tch. No faith. This was gonna be awesome!

"The only bad ideas are the ones never tried," I told her, completing the transition into a full walrus. "Keep your hands and feet inside the ride until we come to a complete stop. _Here we go!"_With not a moment to spare, I jumped over the edge, delighting in the fall and Grimm's shriek on the way down. When we hit the hill and began to slide down, she stopped screaming, twisting on my back. "I think we lost it! We're safe!"

I didn't turn to look because not only would that make us spin a bit too much, but I couldn't exactly stop now. The ride through traffic was just plain AWESOME, spinning and fast, just like a ride. When we finally skidded to a stop, I was trying not to laugh at her reactions. I don't think she enjoyed it.

"Let's do it again!" I laughed, rolling onto my side. I was laughing so hard I didn't notice at first that she was hurt. I mean, I knew she'd dislodged when we'd crashed, but while I transformed back into my normal self, I could see her clutching her arm and looking around the barn we were in.

"Grimm, you look like you fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch," I said, once I'd gotten the laughter out. She really did look terrible and cold. Her teeth were chattering, and she almost seemed ready to cry.

I don't know why I did it, but I really couldn't stand that side of her. Why couldn't she have just insulted me like always and stomped away?

Sighing, I walked over and sat beside her, wings popping out again. She was such a helpless little mortal. I wrapped my wings around her, sheltering her from the cold. Her teeth stopped chattering, but so help me if she started getting mushy, I was going to let her freeze. I don't even know why I was doing it, I just didn't like it when she looked so desperate.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. Then she broke the silence.

"What was that thing?"

Well, that explained some of it, at least. She was as clueless as ever. "It's called a Jabberwocky," I answered. "Two tons of teeth, tail, and terror. From what I've heard, they're impossible to kill. But don't worry, Grimm; it's gone. It had its share of the Trickster King for one day."

My chest puffed up a bit as I said it. This was the part where she was supposed to praise me for how awesome I was in saving her butt. _Again. _

"We need to get help," she said, shivering again.

Any other time, I would have been annoyed at her refusal to praise me, but she really was cold. Still, what did it take to impress her? Did I have to slay a dragon or something? "I'm on it."

Reaching into my pocket, I brought out my flute and summoned my loyal minions to me. "Go get the old lady, and bring me something to start a fire," I told them sternly.

The best part about pixies was that they were incredibly obedient and resourceful. They also didn't give me much grief about the fact that I had Sabrina Grimm trembling in my wings. In no time at all, they'd brought me the materials I needed.

I took the root beer they'd provided me with. "You have served me well, minions," I told them, before chugging the drink and tossing it aside. It was tasty.

"Ahhhh," I sighed, wiping my mouth on my sleeve. At least getting us warm was enjoyable.

"Was that refreshing? I'd hate for you to be thirsty. Maybe you would like a sandwich, too."

…Did she just snarl at me?! Of all the indignities! I was going out of my way to be nice to her, and she was complaining again?

"Keep your pants on," I said in annoyance. "Something has to be done to keep you from turning into a Grimmsicle."

I unfolded my wings, grimacing when she started shivering again, then turned to the pile of timber my minions had laid out for me. All it took was one good belch, and a large fireball lit the pile for me. All at once, it stopped being quite so cold and miserable in the barn.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"Oh, I'm full of surprises," I said proudly, looking back to her. "Want to see what I can do out the other end?"

The minions laughed, twittering around cheerfully.

"Uh, no thanks," she edged closer to the fire, and I smirked. Too bad.

"Suit yourself," I said with a shrug, looking back to the pixies. "I need you to go back to the road and wait for the old lady. Come and get me when she arrives."

Once they'd gone, I sat back and wrapped my wings around Grimm again. Warmer or not, I wasn't taking chances. I didn't need her to get sick and die after all my valiant efforts to stop her from being Jabberwocky-lunch.

Glancing back over, I noticed the look on her face. She seemed like she might cry, and I didn't know how I was going to handle that. Angry Sabrina Grimm was one thing. Crying Sabrina Grimm was another. So I quickly said the only thing I could think of that might make her feel better. It came out as a whisper, because it wasn't something I normally said.

"I'm sorry we couldn't save your parents."

The look on her face didn't get better. I had to glance to the fire to stop from saying something else that was probably stupid, and she didn't answer me. After a long moment, I turned to look at her, only to see her staring at me with something close to envy on her face. Did it really suck that much, being a helpless little mortal?

Yeah, it probably did.

"I'd prefer if we kept the heroics to ourselves," I said, breaking the silence again. "The last thing I need is you yapping to everyone in town about me being a hero. I am most definitely not a hero. I'm a villain-"

"Of the worst kind," she finished for me. "I know."

"And don't you forget it!" I said firmly.

"How could I? You tell me every ten minutes."

I scowled at the fire. I had to tell her every ten minutes. Given how many times I had to save her from danger, I didn't want her to get the wrong idea.

"Still," she said after what seemed like forever, but had only been a few minutes of silence. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem," I said to her, feeling her relax under my wing, no doubt falling asleep from exhaustion. "I'll just add it to your tab."

She didn't answer me that time, and I couldn't help myself from looking down at her. When she wasn't scowling, her face was kind of pretty. I liked the way she looked a lot better than most of the faerie girls I'd grown up around. They were sparkling princesses with princessy reactions. Sabrina Grimm was anything but that.

My eyes snapped wide open, and I turned to the fire. I had just called Sabrina Grimm pretty. I had just compared her to the kind of girl I was supposed to marry. What was wrong with me?!

It had to be the whole near-death experience thing. I mean, there was no way I was actually looking at Sabrina Grimm's face and calling her pretty. To be sure, I turned to her again. She was snuggling in my wings, right up against my side.

The. Trickster. King. Does. Not. Snuggle.

I tried very hard not to twitch. If I woke her up, she'd just be annoyed and harder to deal with. At least this way she didn't have to see that it was making me blush a little. The sooner the old lady showed up, the better.

I studied her face again while she slept. Her hair was tangled from the running, and her cheeks were a little smudged with soot, but there was something… I don't know, I couldn't describe it. I had to do something about it.

I glanced back at the fire, drawing my wings in a bit closer so there was no chance she'd get cold. I had to do something. I couldn't let myself react this way around her, she was my enemy.

"Hey Grimm, you awake?" I muttered, making absolutely sure she wasn't going to tease me about this later.

The only answer was her steady breathing.

So I tried it out again—something that had been a mistake.

"Sabrina," I said, looking to her. Her name sounded weird coming from me and not in a shout of 'oh crap you're gonna die'. But oddly enough, I liked saying it.

THAT WAS A BAD THING.

"Okay pull it together," I told myself, scowling. "So she doesn't look that bad right now. You can fix that. Just need… A marker! Ah, a permanent marker."

I rubbed my hands together a bit. It was a perfect plan. I'd get a permanent marker and draw on her face until it stopped making me feel so… so _nice._And then I'd blame it on the fact that she was never going to be able to pay me seven million dollars. No one would have to know the real reason, I'd get to play an awesome prank, and no one could blame me, because I'd just saved Sabrina Grimm's life. Now if only I could think of a good way to unwrap my wings before the old lady or the Marshmallow caught a glimpse, without getting Sabrina sick.

Without getting _Grimm _sick, I corrected myself immediately, groaning at the slip up. It was going to take way more than just one bath to get rid of this.

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky:** Hope that wasn't too OOC or anything, but reading that section of the book made me realize he really started warming up to her at that point—like putting his arm around her to guide her through the snow and stuff. More than I remembered. I also forgot he called her "Sabrina" out loud when she almost got fried…

Oh well XD R/R? Luvvies!


	2. And Then the Villain Became a Hero

**A/N:**

**Sky:** I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack. I'm still sick (oofah) but while I was passing chapter 8 of No Matter What to Ayns for her to edit, I decided to start this chapter. I uh… Well, I left book 4 at work, so I couldn't do the poisoning scene first. Since book 3 was on hand, I decided to do this scene first. After all, popular demand and all that :3

Special thanks to my awesome reviewers ^^: **Schadenfreude62, lunnerwolf107, bluejeans12, Alice Starr, Books, Trickster Queen464, Twilight0, grimmgirl, ZOMBIEfiedCrayons, curlscat, Ascaisil, Tanglenight, **and** BoOkluvEr303** ^^

**This scene is Puck's POV from (in this order) right before he saves Sabrina from the Jabberwocky again, the kiss, and then when he gets his wings ripped off. Enjoy!**

**_*****_**

**_Musings of a King_**

**_Chapter Two: And Then the Villain Became a Hero_**

**_*****_**

Ya know, I can usually tell just by looking at someone if I'm gonna like them or not. I don't need other cocky people around me, they just get on my nerves. And heroes rain on my parade. But looking at that joker, I wasn't sure what he was. Other than annoying, anyway.

So annoying in fact, I wanted to barf.

Ever since 'Uncle Jake' (and to get the full effect, it has to be said with the utmost dreamy high-pitched voice) had shown up, he'd done nothing but cause trouble. After all, I'm the one that saved Grimm from the stupid Jabberwocky. I'm the one that's been protecting her and the Marshmallow at school. I was the one keeping the Old Lady company over the years.

And then that joker waltzes in and acts like he owns 'em all. At least the Marshmallow's showing common sense. He offered her that wand first, but she turned it down. Of course, now Grimm has it. That just makes it so much worse.

Like an idiot, she took that wand from him and got all starry eyed, like he's something special. Magic isn't good news when you mix it with inexperienced people, and she is the epitome of inexperienced. I'm surprised she even knew who Merlin was.

She didn't need a stupid wand. It was only going to get her into trouble. I mean, seriously, she has me, what does she need with a magic stick?

So there I was, about to rush in and become the hero again. I was completely defeated by Sabrina Grimm; as long as she was in danger, I couldn't be a villain. It wasn't fair. But let's backtrack, and I'll explain how I lost the battle of villainy. It all started when that immature freak had come into their lives. Well, that's a lie. But that does directly relate to the source of my annoyance and my acceptance of my title as a hero.

It started a pretty long time ago. But 'the event' happened just a bit earlier today, the final nail on the coffin that sealed my days as a villain.

*********

I was training my soldiers when she trespassed into my room. Of course I knew she was there, but I ignored her as best as possible. After all, I had to focus on my Chimps. They weren't very organized, but at least they took orders and liked shiny treats in return for their loyalty. I had millions of shiny things to hand over at almost no cost to myself.

I honestly ignored her for as long as I could, but when she came closer, I finally scowled in her direction. "What do you want?"

"Somebody's in a bad mood," she answered, stepping over some of the bottle rockets littering the floor. Was she trying to taunt me?

"I'm not in a bad mood. I'm busy turning these maggots into fighting machines," I said, looking away from her. Even with the writing and such on her face, I was still having a weird reaction.

The chimps really didn't like being called maggots, or having Grimm there. They started complaining immediately that they didn't want Grimm to interfere with their fun, and how the room was for boys only… Yada yada.

I transformed my head to snap at them in their own tongue, warning them that if they messed with Grimm, I'd forsake them forever and take away their fireworks. That shut 'em up, and made me feel better about the fact that Grimm sometimes walked into my room without permission. At least this way the chimps wouldn't hurt her.

…Like I cared. Really.

"The only thing keeping you busy is your pouting," she said once I turned my head back to a human one.

"I'm not pouting," I said with a scowl. Did I look like I was pouting? Maybe I should have stayed part-chimp.

"Well, something's wrong. There are donuts in the dining room. Normally you'd have already wolfed them all down and finished by licking the box," she pointed out.

Despite the fact that she was right, I felt like arguing. "Who cares about donuts? I don't even like donuts."

"You like everything. I've seen you eat Elvis's kibble right out of his bowl."

…Why did she have to keep talking about food? It just reminded me that I hadn't actually gotten enough food, and the donuts were sounding good. Unless they were the ones with coconuts on them… Those were debatable.

"Are they glazed?" I finally asked her.

"Yes, Uncle Jake bought them," she answered.

I was scowling again. Oh, her hero, Uncle Jake, had bought them. Yippy freaking skippy, I'd rather eat one of my chimps.

"I don't want anything from him," I said stubbornly.

"Why don't you like him?" She asked with a cute little frown.

NOT CUTE. I thought fast, making sure my thoughts didn't affect my words.

"He's hogging the old lady," I said. "Just cause he's her real son."

It was a logical excuse. After all, I liked having the old lady all to myself. I didn't mind sharing her with Grimm or Marshmallow, because I liked their company too. Jake was a whole 'nother issue.

"She hasn't seen him in twelve years, Puck," Sabrina—no, Grimm said in an exasperated tone.

"Why do you care, anyway?"

"_I don't!"_"Good."

"Good!"

I was scowling again, because now I wanted her to know why I was so annoyed. It wasn't fair at all, why should Jake get all my glory? After everything I'd given up…

"If you must know, I've been insulted."

"By who?" Grimm asked.

Of all the… "By all of you!" I shouted at her. "I have an impeccable reputation as a scoundrel. I have been banned by thousands of hamlets, hundreds of cities, dozens of countries, and three different dimensions. There are bounties on my head all over the planet and on a few planets you've never heard of. I'm Puck, the Trickster King. I'm the mean and nasty emperor of pranksters. I'm the boy hero to nations of snickering layabouts. My kingdom is on the wrong side of the tracks!" I ranted at her.

"So?"

She really just asked me that?!

"So? _So?! _So, I threw it all away to protect this family-" well, mainly her… "-and not one of you appreciates it. I'm ruined and you have all turned your back on me for _Uncle Jake. _He'll save the family, blah, blah, blah!" I wanted to shake sense into her. Why couldn't she see the problem?

"Oh, stop being such a baby. Of course we care about you. Everyone cares about you," she said.

All thoughts of yelling at Grimm for calling me a baby died before they made it to my mouth. Everyone cared about me? Was she blushing?

"You care about me?" I asked her.

"Don't let it go to your head, gasbag," she answered. But at the same time, she looked as uncomfortable as I'd felt when I'd first noticed that I liked how she looked.

This was too good. "You're in love with me!" I exclaimed. "I knew it!"

"Gross!" She said, her cheeks positively red beneath her ugly black marker mustache.

"You want me to be your boyfriend, don't you?" I taunted. My wings popped out before I could think about what I was doing, and I swooped down in front of her. I'd originally planned to get really close and make her blush some more, but my lips met hers and I found that I wasn't pulling back.

I'd seen a lot of people kiss before (and usually I threw stuff at them) but I'd never actually done it myself. The last person who had wanted to kiss me was Moth, and… Eh. No offense to her, but she's not my type and she's a little crazy.

Back to Sabrina Grimm… Why wasn't I pulling back? My lips were touching a girl's lips! There had to be special shots for that level of cooties, and I didn't like needles!

Well… Cooties aside, it felt nice. Was this why other people did it so much? I'd closed my eyes when our lips had touched, not wanting to look at her mustached face, and I wondered if she had too. Most people closed their eyes when they did it.

It only lasted a moment, but I swear it felt like it was lasting a lifetime. When I pulled back, she was staring at me in shock, but not disgust. She seemed speechless and confused. Oh yeah. She wanted me.

I grinned, feeling cocky again. "I believe the words you are searching for are _thank you." _

I didn't see her hand move, but I sure did feel the punch. The wind left me in a rush as she sucker punched me right in the gut. I curled up in the air, trying to catch my breath. I barely even heard her shout.

"You try that again, you little freak, and you're going to need a dentist!"

She whirled around and stomped down the path while the chimps cheered and laughed in the background. They'd gotten my matches, and were setting off more fireworks. Their timing was wrong; the fireworks should have gone off _during _the kiss, not after when she humiliated me.

"We're going out with Uncle Jake. Granny says you have to go. We're waiting in the car!"

I heard the door slam, then floated gently to the ground and groaned. She should have done that to the Jabberwocky. Sabrina Grimm was not as helpless as she looked.

I rolled onto my back, wings flat behind me. "Ugh…" Even though she'd hit me, I couldn't help but grin a bit. So she was in denial too. That was okay, I wasn't ready to admit anything either. Hopefully I wouldn't have to deal with the emotional baggage of what I'd just done for oh… Maybe fifteen years.

But one thing was for sure… There was no turning back on being a hero, not when it was Sabrina Grimm I was protecting. She'd just won.

**********

And that was how I found myself rushing to be the hero again while "Uncle Jake oh my god how dreamy" didn't do crap to help. The Jabberwocky had Grimm pinned, and what was he doing? Tch. Nothing. Oh well. That's what I was there for. All I had to do was make it known first, that I was going to go ahead and be the hero.

"Fine! I give up!" I called.

I flew in close enough to distract the Jabberwocky, smirking when it turned to look at me and let go of Grimm. I was watching her, so I saw her run to the Marshmallow and hold onto her tightly.

I smacked the Jabberwocky with a nicely aimed projectile from my slingshot, looking cheerful when I got him right in his ugly eye. "You've beaten me, Grimms. Are you happy? You dragged me into this hero business against my will and now every time I turn around, I'm saving the day. Well, I hope you're happy. I'm a hero now."

I neglected to mention why, or the specifics. They didn't need to know.

"I don't want to play this game!" Red Riding Hood's shriek nearly broke my ears.

"Hey, let's play the quiet game," I shouted at her, annoyed by the interruption. Maybe Grimm would have said something if she hadn't shouted like a crazy person?

"Your crazy talk is distracting from my heroics. If I'm going to be a good guy, then people are going to notice."

Something smacked into me hard, and I hit the ground with a grunt, feeling just a little dizzy when I was lifted face-to-face to the Jabberwocky. Ugh. If you call that a face. I couldn't believe I'd gotten caught off guard so easily. Stupid Grimm, distracting me by being down there.

I honestly had a plan, but I didn't want Grimm to worry, so I laughed it off. The last thing I needed was Grimm crying over me. "Don't worry, girls! I've got this all under control!"

I'd turned my head to look at Sabrina Grimm, making sure she heard me and didn't worry. She was clutching Daphne tight, and she definitely looked worried. Didn't she ever listen? I was _fine._A sudden tearing sensation ripped through my entire body, taking me off guard again. I wasn't sure anything had ever hurt quite so badly. Even Grimm's punch felt good compared to this. There weren't even words to describe how excruciatingly horrifying the feeling was. 'Excruciatingly horrifying' was a pretty close and accurate description, though.

Everything started to go black, and my body went numb. The last thing I heard before I stopped thinking and passed out was Sabrina Grimm shouting my name.

I knew she wanted me.

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky: **I couldn't resist doing the whole thing XD Hope ya like it ^^ Next up will probably be the poisoning scene. Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions! I'm planning to do lots of them! And man, writing first person POV can feel so awkward to me… Bleh, hope I didn't mess up, I caught a few errors when I re-read.

R/R Luvvies!


	3. Lightning Rod of Catastrophe

**A/N:**

**Sky:** Sigh… I hope this chapter doesn't suck, I needed to distract myself. I woke up in a good mood, but my family is having some hard times right now and I'm in a terrible hopeless funk. No Matter What's update might be a bit delayed because of my despair (and because it requires more writing and editing than this story does, I'm just terrible right now) so… Please be patient. The reviews have been helping a lot, it's one of the few things cheering me up ^^ That and the hugs I got on facebook. (You know who you are :P)

So, very very very very very special thanks to: **Eulalia95, Trickster Queen464, Ascaisil, Twilight0, minus your plus, redfirepixie318, MoodyRuby227, BoOkLuvEr303, ZOMBIEfiedCrayons, Tanglenight, sdfsd, **and **grimmgirl. **I'm glad you enjoyed chapter 2.

**This chapter takes place in book 4 while Puck is in the cocoon/when Moth poisons Sabrina.**

Enjoy :3

**_*****_**

**_Musings of a King_**

**_Chapter Three: Lightning Rod of Catastrophe_**

**_*****_**

Pudding.

I felt like I was curled up in a big vat of banana pudding. Why banana, you ask? Well, why not. I supposed I was in a healing cocoon. I couldn't really recall much after showing up to save Grimm from the Jabberwocky. There had been an awful ripping feeling, and Grimm had called my name…

But instead of getting to listen to her praise for my heroics, there I was in a comfy and creepy cocoon.

It'd been a really long time since the last time I had to hole myself up in one of those things. I'd spent the whole time hoping the cocoon would ignore my preferences on trust and spray my father with gunk so I could annoy him, but I'd woken up to an angry Mustardseed insisting I leave so he could shower.

Tch. Showers are so overrated. Sometimes it's hard to believe Mustardseed is younger than I am. Oh well, he's the one that let the curse of maturity take him. I'm dodging that one for as long as I can.

Erp. Pudding shifted. Hopefully it'd finish soon. I was getting bored. At least it was toasty.

For a little while, it'd been a little cold for my liking. Like I was being dragged away from my so-called protector. Cocoons are picky about that kind of thing. Or something. Either way, I was pretty sure Mustardseed had locked me in a closet or a birdcage so he could have some alone time. Hopefully I wouldn't wake up in a shower with him.

Ugh ugh ugh! Noooo. If a shower with my brother was the cause for the cocoon going warm, and I ended up coming out to that scene, I was prepared to rip my wings back off and go in again.

The cocoon stopped jerking, going peaceful. Good, maybe it had sensed my distress and annoyed the everloving crap out of my brother until he'd stopped trying to push it away. I sure felt like my 'protector' was near.

The voice I heard next definitely wasn't Mustardseed. It wasn't my mom either, or the old lady. It was the last voice I expected to hear, because the girl it belonged to probably would have chewed her own arm off rather than touch the cocoon. And in most cases, it was impossible to hear anything outside a cocoon unless a person touched it quite firmly and on purpose.

"Puck, I've come to say goodbye. You're free from Ferryport Landing. That's something a lot of Everafters and I, myself, would like to be. You're going to stay here with your mother and brother. Apparently, you're the new king of the fairies, so you're going to have to grow up a little. I… I never got a chance to say I was sorry for slugging you when you… you… well you know."

There was a pause.

Sabrina Grimm was on the other side of my cocoon, talking to me like I was leaving? Had she lost her mind? First of all, what did she mean, stay here? And king of fairies? It made no sense.

And she was apologizing for the way she'd slugged me. Eh. Close enough, but I still thought she ought to thank me for 'the event'. And it made me feel better to hear her. Less worried about being in the shower, for one thing. But it also confirmed that the Jabberwocky hadn't eaten her sorry butt.

"I wasn't expecting it and, well, it wasn't exactly a dream come true to be surrounded by a bunch of tick-eating chimpanzees. I was angry when it happened. But, I'm glad it was you."

I knew she wanted me. Totally called it. Man, I wanted out of the cocoon so I could have seen her face. She was probably being all dramatic. What a weirdo.

"Okay, enough of that. You take care of yourself. I'm going to come back here someday, and if I find out you were a jerkazoid, there's going to be trouble."

Pfft. What was all this junk about us not seeing each other for a while? Did she miss me that much? Or was she just ditching my cocoon to go play with her magic wand and her precious Uncle Jake? I was gonna have to get her double for that nonsense.

The cocoon pulsed itself again, and I frowned inwardly. Clearly she'd finished talking and backed off. So why did I try going back to her? Huh. Maybe Grimm was the one I'd sprayed with gunk.

…Freakin' awesome.

And not awesome at the same time, because it meant Grimm really was leaving. The Trickster King was not amused.

I strained to hear more, but the voices were muffled. Clearly someone was still there, but it didn't sound like the Marshmallow had come to see Grimm.

And then it hit me. With a sudden horror that only an ex (or someone who thinks she's an ex when really she's not even that!) can produce. Even the banana pudding was not as horrible. Sabrina Grimm was talking with _Moth. _

The name alone sent a shudder through my cocoon as the pudding receded again, soaking into the inner walls and detaching from me. I needed to get out of there before Moth snuggled my cocoon or something equally as gross.

"Cobweb will tell the truth…"

Was it just me, or did Grimm sound like she was in pain? Ah crap, Moth was probably messing with her. Why couldn't anyone leave her alone? It just meant more work for me to save her butt.

"Not without you." I could hear Moth's voice now. "That old…" Her voice drifted in and out. "-just tell your family you decided to stay here for Puck's-"

For my what? Psychopath…

"-manage to communicate without you-"

What the crap was Moth talking about?

I started to wiggle a bit, feeling cramped. None of this conversation was settling with me.

"-Now that Puck… already mapped out most of Central… Run the humans out… Show the rest of the Everafters… Bow at our feet…"

I nudged at the cocoon again, satisfied when it ripped. If I didn't get out soon, Moth'd be naming off children she planned to have with me. BLEH!

It didn't help that Moth's little rant seemed incredibly… Well, dangerous I guess was the only way to explain it. I finished shoving the cocoon open with a loud _rip, _looking around when I emerged.

Moth had her back to me, standing over Grimm in obvious triumph. Grimm herself looked like she was in bad shape, hunched over and sweating. She looked pale and weak, not at all like herself. Somehow, I just knew I'd called it right, and Grimm was in danger.

Moth sure did suck sometimes.

"Then we'll take over the whole city. Humans will make good slaves."

I ignored Moth when I saw Grimm look up at me, clearly only half conscious. Had she been poisoned or just punched really hard? Either way it really made me mad, and not at Grimm.

"Grimm, are you in trouble again? I swear, if I had a nickel for every time I had to save your sorry behind, I'd be a rich fairy," I said, announcing my presence in the most nonchalant way I could manage. After all, no one needed to know I was worried over Grimm's appearance.

"Puck…" She sounded awful too.

"Your Majesty," Moth spun to face me. "I can explain this-"

Yeah. Right.

I brought my flute up before she could even blink, summoning my minions. They scooped Grimm up for me, in case Moth did a wild spin of rage and ended up hurting her.

"What did you do to her, Moth?" I asked with the tone of someone who looks and sounds patient, but clearly isn't.

Moth shook her head at me. "You don't understand, my love. I did this for us."

Delusional. Awesome. It was mid eye-roll (a habit I seemed to be picking up more and more from Grimm) when I saw the goblet on the floor. Ignoring Moth, I picked it up and gave a sniff. It reeked of poison, but of course Grimm wouldn't have known that. "Now that wasn't very nice."

I looked to the minions, anxious. "Find Cobweb. We need his medicine."

They seemed to hesitate, before explaining in detail very quickly all the events I'd missed. I knew they wouldn't joke about such a serious thing, but the words hit me like a truck, and I had to ask for confirmation. "My father?"

Well, that explained Moth's rant. And horrifyingly enough, Grimm's 'farewell' speech. I was a King—and not just a king of pranks.

"Then half of you find my mother," I commanded, wasting no time. I'd think about it later, when Grimm wasn't trying to die on my watch again. "The other half keep an eye on the princess."

They went to it quickly, placing Grimm in my arms first. Looking down at her, I could see she was in bad shape. Freaking… Every single time I turn around, Sabrina Grimm is trying to die! It bothered me more than I liked admitting.

I felt like I was wasting time as I raced her from the room. She was trembling so violently in my arms that I had a hard time holding onto her. "Stay awake, Grimm," I snapped down at her.

She probably hadn't heard me. Her eyes were closing and she was still trembling. The thought that I might have been too late made my stomach clench uneasily. I couldn't already be screwing up my career as a hero, I'd _just _started it for crying out loud.

"Sabrina," I said urgently when she didn't respond. "Sabrina, stay awake!"

She lost consciousness. Probably just to spite me. Freaking Grimm, I was going to have a heart attack!

I was incredibly grateful and lucky to find that Cobweb wasn't the only one who could heal her. But by the time we had her ready to go in her own little cocoon, I had to pry a crying Marshmallow off of her and hold her back. All of her family members (well, the conscious ones and the ones not in Ferryport…) were gathered around her. The old lady seemed to be blaming herself. Tch. Not her fault Grimm was a _lightning rod of catastrophe. _

"Can the waterworks, Marshmallow," I told her, frowning in Grimm's direction. "She's gonna be fine. She wouldn't die just to spite me."

"What if she never wakes up?" Marshmallow was ready to start wailing, I could tell.

"Yeesh," I said, putting a hand on her head. "She wouldn't want you to cry, you know that."

"But I've been so mean to her and I'll never get the chance to apologize!" she sobbed, wiping at her eyes.

I shot a dark look in the old lady's direction. She was too busy with Grimm to deal with the Marshmallow, so I sighed and knelt down. "Marshmallow," I said in a stern voice. "She'll be fine. She's strong, right?"

Sniffling, the little girl nodded at me. Why did she have to look up to me like I could do something? I had never been more glad in my life that Sabrina Grimm usually dealt with her little sister. I was no big brother… Even if Daphne Grimm thought I was.

Eh. Oh well, all the Grimms couldn't get enough of me, apparently. I could handle the big brother work for a bit. And _someone _had to cheer the little girl up, or Faerie'd be under water before Grimm got out of the cocoon.

"Then quit crying, if you doubt the cocoon's power, it won't work."

It was a lie and I knew it, but she sucked in the air around her like a vacuum, then straightened and put her best determined look on. Good. At least now the Marshmallow could think positive thoughts.

Me… Well, I'd just have to wait until Grimm came out of the cocoon before the uneasiness in my stomach went away.

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky: **Bleh… Anyway the next scene will probably also be from book 4, just as a followup. Reflection on Sabrina coming out of the cocoon, Oberon's funeral, all that kinda jazz. I'm splitting it up because I don't want to make these too long. And I think Puck's such a cute big brother XD Yay for manipulating siblings! (My brother used to do the same type of manipulation with me…)

Also Daphne's panic seemed logical to me, because at the time she might actually believe Sabrina's gonna die. Since I couldn't find much in the books on it, I figure once Sabrina was okay for sure, Daphne decided it was okay to calm down and didn't need to gush on her. :P

Hopefully I'll be feeling better next chapter. Thanks all, luvvies. R/R


	4. Why Did It Have To Be Roses?

**A/N:**

**Sky:** Okay so, here's the thing. My family situation is TONS better, and people have been so nice about reviewing and voting for No Matter What for best fic, I'm in such a better mood. ^^

Thanks so much to the wonderful reviewers: **redfirepixie318, Twilight0, bluejeans12, Trickster ueen464, ZOMBIEfiedCrayons, no one, MoodyRuby227, Tanglenight, dog9girl, silent-entrance, Eulalia95, Zeorzia, BoOkLuvEr303, Ascaisil, grimmgirl, lexi, msjezzi-bella, Lara D, curlscat, RainbowofSmiles16 **and **Heart Of Punks! **

**And YES, I do take requests for this, although please note I already have plans to do: **The scene from book 2 where Mr. Canis tells Puck love will be his undoing or w/e, the scene from book 1 where Puck meets them for the first time, the scene from book 5 where Puck meets his future self, the scene from book 6 where he handcuffs himself to Sabrina, the scene from book 5 where Puck meets his past self (/grin), the scene from book 7 where Puck finds out they get married in the future, and others I can't recall right now XD

That being said, what else is there? Lawl. But really, if there's something you wanna see, leave a review with your request and I'll try to squeeze it in :P Also, I forgot to mention it, but if you haven't already, go check out Curlscat's "My Side of the Story". It's a collection of Puck journal entries, and it's awesome ^^ While it's unrelated to this series and not the inspiration like someone asked in an e-mail, it still rocks my socks and you'll love it.

**This scene is from Puck's POV and takes place in book 4 after Sabrina has been poisoned and put into a cocoon.**

**_*****_**

**_Musings of a King_**

**_Chapter Four: Why Did It Have To Be Roses?_**

**_*****_**

So, apparently cocoons work differently for mortals. I did not know this. Had I known, I might not have stood so close to the stupid thing while waiting to see if the girl I occasionally had to rescue would come out. And of course, no one bothered to warn me either. In their defense, I guess they might not have known. It's not like we put mortals in cocoons that often. I had a feeling Mustardseed had known though, and just wanted to see me humiliated.

Still, when the cocoon had pulsed and sprayed me right in the face with the most disgusting thing I'd ever smelled, I had thought I was going to die.

The Marshmallow had ventured closer with a delicate little 'sniff', but I didn't need her to identify it. I knew what it was.

"Roses!" she said in surprise. "Puck, you smell good!"

Mustardseed might have busted something from how hard he was laughing. That jerk.

"Shut up," I muttered. "Stupid Grimm."

Thankfully, her cocoon was the kind that didn't move around, so it didn't follow me when I tried to get the smell off.

Now, a few hours later, I stood a safe distance away from the smelly thing, scowling at it. "How long is she going to be in there? It's not like she had her arms ripped off."

"Patience," Mustardseed said. "You should be taking care of your affairs. It's not like the cocoon is going anywhere."

I rolled my eyes at him. Mustardseed was always telling me to be patient. Patience was so overrated…

Besides, if I didn't watch the cocoon, with my luck it would detach from the ground and roll into the nearest atomic bomb, setting it off and destroying the city. That was the kind of luck Sabrina Grimm had.

"You know why you smell the way you do, right?" Mustardseed glanced over.

I shrugged uncomfortably. "Grimm gets a kick out of annoying the crap out of me?"

"She trusts you more than her own family."

"I was closer," I said defensively. "It would have gotten one of them if I hadn't been in the way."

"You know that's not the case, Puck. Be honest," Mustardseed's tone is so matter-of-fact that I want to smack his concerned look right off his face. Why was he so concerned, anyway?

I didn't bother answering, looking over at the Grimm group. Heh. Grim… Grimm… Bad pun. The Marshmallow was still watching the cocoon in worry, gnawing away at her bottom lip and encouraging her. That was a new development; I'd told her if she encouraged the cocoon, Grimm,'d heal faster.

The Marshmallow reminded me of a baby bunny or something else that was cute and sugary sweet. But she was more like… Like a drunk baby bunny. You could convince it to do a lot of things, but if you weren't careful, you'd turn around to see the drunk baby bunny was about to jump out of a tree to prove a point to all the other woodland creatures. Like, a squirrel had told her drunk bunnies could fly, and she wanted to see.

I needed to keep a closer eye on her. I didn't want anyone else manipulating my drunk bunny marshmallow.

That image reminded me of a bad accident involving shoving a pixie into a pink marshmallow peep. I couldn't help but shudder, trying to block the memory from my mind like I had for years. Any time someone talks about putting a peep in the microwave, I get wrenched into the memory of endless marshmallow explosions.

"Puck," Mustardseed saved me from the enlarging pink goo in my mind, and I looked at him again.

"What?" I scowled at him to prove how annoyed I was, but he ignored it.

"You also chose her to be your protector when you were in the cocoon," he pointed out.

I tried to make my scowl look more fierce. At first, it had been freaking awesome that I had gotten her with the cocoon gunk. I mean, I didn't get to play any pranks for a while, so it was nice to know I could annoy her while incapacitated. Then I'd had to deal with the fact that it meant I trusted her more than anyone else, and I was getting way too attached to her.

"Puck," Mustardseed looked at me in irritation now. "You're falling in love with a mortal."

"WHOA!" I grabbed his arm and yanked him to the tiniest corner of the room—but I could have sworn the Old Man had smirked in our direction from near Grimm and the Old Lady.

"Listen to me," I said in a hushed tone. "I am not, nor have I ever been, falling in love with a mortal!"

"Being stubborn won't change anything," Mustardseed said, shaking his head. "Why else would you have told mother you were making arrangements to go?"

I faltered at that one—he had a point. Sort of. Not the love thing—ick, love? Not for the Trickster King.

The point was, I DID tell Mother I planned on going back to Ferryport Landing. Most Everafters spent their lives trying to escape. Here I had succeeded, and I wanted to go back. It wasn't like I really had another home anymore—sure I was the new King of Faerie, but that didn't mean I wanted any responsibilities or anything like that.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," I muttered to him, shaking my head. I hadn't even gone to see mom since initially telling her she'd be taking over Faerie for me. That had been before Grimm had gotten me with her disgusting girly cocoon scent.

"You'll have to face it sooner or later, Puck," Mustardseed said, shaking his head. "You're falling in love—or you're already in love—with Sabrina Grimm."

"Actually it's my unrequited love for the Old Lady," I said sarcastically.

When he didn't respond, I glanced back over at him to see the oddest look of mortification on his face that I'd ever seen before.

…Was it that believable? What the crap!

"You're joking, right?" Mustardseed blanched. "I mean, I can understand if it's Sabrina, she's lovely and young—but Relda is… Er… I'm sure she's lovely too, but I mean she's a bit past her prime…"

Now I want to strangle my brother. He did _not _just call Sabrina 'lovely'.

"Whoa," Mustardseed shook his head and took a step back. "Sorry for saying anything."

At first, the statement confused me. Then I saw that reflected in his eyes, I looked ready to attack. Was my reaction really –that- bad to my brother complimenting Grimm? It had to be the rose scent. It had soaked into my brain.

"I'm outta here," I muttered, turning to leave. I only stopped because the cocoon was starting to shudder and creak.

Everyone in the room was looking at it now—and sure enough, Grimm got free and stood from her cocoon, looking like she'd been swimming in an eggplant and pudding soup. If I hadn't been so relieved to see her in one piece with the best 'oh what the crap' look on her face, I might have laughed or teased her.

Her eyes met mine, still too bewildered to realize where she was or what had happened, and I smirked at her. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," I said nonchalantly. "Why don't I carry a camera with me?"

Without responding, she looked down at the remains of her cocoon and turned a little green. I had to choke my laughter off before it started. Luckily Mustardseed knew as well as I did that Mother would want to see me now, so with a quick goodbye and all that fun stuff, we left them behind in the room.

Once outside, I laughed to my heart's content. I really did wish I'd had a camera to capture the image of Sabrina Grimm's horrified goo-covered face in more than just my memory.

Mother nodded to Mustardseed, still quietly seething over the whole 'dad was murdered for a stupid reason' thing. Personally I didn't care much… So I told myself. But Mother actually cared for that guy.

"Sabrina Grimm is awake, then?" She asked, glancing at me.

"Yep. Goo-covered and confused. Looks like the cocoon worked on her. So now we hafta discuss my plans," I said with ease.

"Alright…"

She turned to Mustardseed, paused, then turned back to me with a smirk on her lips. I looked at her warily. "What, mom?"

"Why do I smell roses?"

…Damn it.

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky:** Sorry for the delay and then such a short chapter :X Been a hectic busy month at work, and Ayns and I are scrambling to edit No Matter What, which takes priority over this one, seeing as how NMW is epic and MoaK is my solo project :P

Next up will probably be the finishing off of book 4—funeral, Sabrina jumping into the rope, Puck going back with them, etc :P Then I might backtrack to book 2…

Thanks so much for the awesome reviews ^^ I'll try to update faster! (With longer chapters too!)


	5. Roses, Robots, and a Second Crown

**A/N:**

**Sky:** H'ooookay so… Well, I'm workin' on this cause people were so awesome that I decided to update ASAP! Also because NMW needs a ton more work and um.. It might be a bit longer before we can update that XD So I'm here to distract you!

Oh look, a distraction!!/points at Ascaisil

Ahem. Anywhoo,_ **if you want to skip the Author Note because I don't shut up fast enough, but you want to know where in the books this takes place, read right above the title!^^**_

**Also, the narrative is Puck's, so people will usually be referred to by whatever name he gave them. Parts of this might sound confusing—it's because sometimes when you're thinking in a certain direction, you call it a 'train of thought'. And sometimes you imagine the station that 'train' came from. And sometimes the station only employs bunnies… Yeah you'll either get it or don't XD Sometimes I need to be random.**

Special thanks to my wonderful reviewers (many of whom enjoy the drunken baby bunnyness!): **redfirepixie318, Schadenfreude62, MoodyRuby227, curlscat, BlueJeans12, Tanglenight, Twilight0, sistersgrimmaddict, 12grimmfan21, Heartofpunks, ladedalada, maria, Hippiegirl321995, Zeorzia, Ascaisil, Eulalia95, BoOkLuvEr303, grimmgirl, RainbowofSmiles16, minus your plus, girlwriter, Lyla Domae, puck luva, Trickster Queen464, **and **DeDe ^^**

And to the person who requested the scene in book 7 where Sabrina falls off the tower, that's the one-shot I did called 'Flip'. It won't be part of this series ^^;

**_THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO TANGLENIGHT ^^ _**For giving me the idea to blame Puck's rose smell on the roses at the funeral. To be fully honest, I forgot they had roses there :P And I loved your recaps on both NMW and this story. You rock!

**This chapter takes place during Book 4, at Oberon's Funeral, and when Sabrina is leaving for Ferryport Landing, with the added scene of them arriving back at the house. **Longer chapter to make up for the short one!

_*********_

_**Musings of a King**_

_**Chapter Five: Roses, Robots, and a Second Crown**_

_*********_

It still didn't feel real.

I mean, yeah, dad was in a box

Okay it wasn't a box. Not really. It was a boat thingie, and we were gonna set it on fire soon. I always thought I'd get a kick out of setting my dad on fire, but I couldn't feel happy about it. I couldn't feel sad either. I wasn't really sure what I was feeling.

I tried filling my head with random thoughts. Like the fact that we were going to put roses on my dad before frying him. That led to thinking about the misconceptions people had about fairies. Like, do we evaporate when we die, do we become trees… Are we born human, or are we born from magic dust…

The worst one in my opinion HAD to be the one in that stupid book about that stupid Peter Pan. If I didn't already have enough reasons to hate that guy, one of his books actually claimed that fairies were born from a baby's laugh. Maybe it was his laugh, I couldn't remember—I'd fired the book out of a cannon.

Either way, I was not born from a baby's laugh. Especially not his.

And so many people thought fairies were just departed spirits anyway. Like we're not alive or something.

I guess maybe it had been a mistake to tell Grimm back when I'd almost drowned that I was immortal. I mean… I guess a better word would have been ageless? Incredibly awesomely durable? Because clearly we could still die.

I felt Grimm shift closer to me, interrupting my thoughts. With a guarded look so I didn't scowl at my dad's body like a crazy person, I shifted the green rose in my hands so it got closer to Grimm.

We'd gone with roses because mom had one she'd saved from faerie lands. I didn't really see her logic in it, because it was just going up in smoke once we were done talking about dad, but whatever helped her feel better, I guess. I was just glad we'd gone with roses because _I still smelled like one._I'd caught Grimm glancing at me any time a breeze gave her a whiff, but luckily I was holding a big green rose in my hands and it was a nice excuse.

I tried to drown out the sounds of my mother and Mustardseed talking about dad. Not like I cared to hear about how braaaave he was back in the day or how he'd planned to rebuild faerie, or his struggles in America. I'd heard the song and dance before.

When Mustardseed stopped talking, I recited my own words carefully in my head, making sure I'd remembered what mom told me to say.

"My father was a complicated man—on of strong traditions," I recited.

Complicated… Tch. Controlling and overbearing. The man wanted it his way all the time, and he was a jerk. Nothing complicated about that.

"He had unbendable beliefs and those beliefs often got in the way of new beginnings."

Often? Try _always. _

"He wanted the best for us but he didn't always know how to make that happen, and he was easily frustrated when we disagreed."

Now I had to really try to keep the bitter resentment off my face. He hadn't wanted the best for us. He'd wanted the best for him and his image. He'd wanted the best for his power and his plans. And he'd never cared enough about what we wanted to try and figure out how to make it happen. He'd throw a tantrum and take his 'frustration' out on everyone.

"As I am the new King of Faerie, his blood will endure."

And I could only hope that the only similarity we had was our blood. I didn't want to be anything like my father.

My hand was trembling just slightly as I lifted it, and rather than get closer to the dead man I used to call 'father', I tossed the rose onto his chest, watching it fall between the white and red ones that Mustardseed and Mother had already placed there. Of course, a moment later I was handed a torch and nearly smacked myself. Of course I'd have to get closer.

Without looking, I moved forward and shoved the torch at the boat, watching the flames start to spread. I quickly tossed the torch into the water and moved to shove the boat away with Mustardseed's help, an odd sensation of burning in my eyes. Okay maybe not odd; my face was next to a freaking fire.

But it didn't feel like I was going up in flames with dear old dad, so what the heck was wrong?

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the burning oak, knowing my father was burning within it. I'd once told him I never wanted to see him again.

Now I'd never have to.

"Puck?" Mustardseed asked quietly. I felt his hand like a stone weight on my shoulder, but it didn't make me look away. Heck, he could have dropped a chunk of iron on me and it probably wouldn't have gotten too much of my attention. Guess it was a good thing Mustardseed wasn't trying to kill me.

"I never have to see him again," I murmured.

"You shouldn't bottle it up, little brother."

"I'm older," I muttered.

"Act like it," he said with a shrug. "I don't want to argue. But you need closure or you'll never move on. He was a jerk and a tyrant, but he was our father. Don't forget that."

"Go make arrangements for my departure," I said as stiffly and formally as possible. Mom probably would have been proud that I hadn't said 'get lost, I'm getting the crap out of here'.

I saw Mustardseed turn briefly out of the corner of my eye, but then he nodded, wings popping out of his back.

Huh. I'd have thought he would have put up more of an annoying argument until we had a share circle and I talked about my feelings while hugging a koosh ball or something.

My eyes were burning again… And they felt wet too. Ah crap.

Oh well, I guess. People were scattering and leaving anyway. The only person who had to know I'd started crying would be Mustardseed.

I'd felt the wrongness in that thought the moment before I caught a glimpse of blonde hair out of the corner of my eye. Just friggin perfect.

I quickly reached up to swipe at the tears on my face, rubbing them into my sleeve and giving her the best 'cocky grin' I could manage.

At the look of concern on her face, I found my grin fading into nothingness. She wasn't fooled for a second.

Her hand found mine, sliding in so that we were holding hands, and it was oddly comforting to know that neither of us had to say anything.

We both looked to the river again, standing in silence that wasn't completely comfortable, but would never be considered awkward.

"So," she broke the silence. "What do I call you? Your Majesty?"

I could hear the teasing playfulness in her voice, and almost grinned at her. "You should have been calling me that all along."

"What you said was very nice."

I shifted at the change in topic. Stupid Grimm. At least I felt like I could be honest with her.

"My mother wrote it for me. She didn't care too much for what I came up with myself."

I waited for her to scold me or sound offended. She seemed genuine enough in telling me she liked it, so telling her I didn't do it probably made her feel stupid or less nice about the whole deal.

I glanced at her without turning, hoping she wouldn't catch me checking her expression.

She was smiling…?

"There's no one here now. Why don't you go ahead with your version?"

I tilted my head at her, curious to see if she was serious. When her expression didn't change, I felt myself smiling. A real smile. But the smile faded when I spoke again.

"My father was mean, arrogant, horrible, and selfish. He cared little for anyone and less for those who disagreed with him. His only love was for his precious kingdom," I said, letting the pent up feelings I hadn't bothered to deal with spill out. Damn Mustardseed for being right, by the way. It felt nice not to bottle it.

Grimm's eyebrows had gone up, but she didn't seem disturbed. I couldn't keep looking at her.

I turned to the water, imagining my father were right there, waiting to hear what I'd never been able to say right to his face. This was it. I wasn't going to see the man ever again. A part of me was starting to feel sad, but the rest of me just wanted to shout to the skies how I felt.

No one had ever made me feel more vulnerable and pathetic than my own father. I'd seen people who talked about their parents with happiness, and that just pissed me off. Even Grimm seemed to have a good relationship with her parents. Had her father never made her feel worthless, or made her feel weak? Or had he, and that was why she knew what I needed to do or say?

I could feel the tears coming faster, the shout welling up in my throat. It felt like if I didn't let it out, my chest would explode from the pressure.

"I hated you!" My voice pitched as the shout came out with intensity I didn't even know I had. "You took every opportunity to remind me that I was weak and stupid!"

All at once, I felt little and vulnerable again. My knees gave out and I fell to them, tears streaming down my cheeks without stopping. I felt Grimm hurry to my side and kneel down, using some part of her clothing (her scarf maybe) to wipe at them for me. I was beyond caring if my face got wet. I didn't look at her.

"When I was barely out of diapers, he took me aside and told me I would never be king," I whispered, wondering when I had decided to talk to Sabrina again, and not my father. She didn't interrupt.

"He said I was a disappointment to him and he would never give up his throne to me. I went to my mother in tears and she explained him to me. She said he was worried about the kingdom's future and feared that his successor would destroy it—even if that successor was his own son."

My voice cracked from the years of pain and anger, all of the feelings rushing back and combining into the emotion I was now feeling, the one causing me to say things I had never shared out loud before. Not even Mustardseed knew, unless Mother told him. Past that day, she and I had never discussed it.

"But my mother swore that one day I would wear the crown, and he would never see it coming. Until then, I would have my own kingdom. Then she gave me my name: the Trickster King. I've worn it proudly ever since."

I felt my pride rush right back to irritation as I continued explaining to Grimm, wiping at my eyes right along with her. "When I got older he tried to force me to marry Moth. So I told the old man he was nuts. Disobeying your father is a crime in our world. He banished me. But, here I am, the King of Faerie anyway. My mother was right. He never saw it coming."

That was right. I was the King, even though he told me I'd never be King. I was the powerful one now, not the weak one. And I wasn't going to be a heartless tyrant. I was going to see a fair kingdom.

Grimm stopped wiping at my tears with her scarf, and I looked to her. The sudden images I had for the future shifted. It wasn't just the kingdom that would be different. The family…

I shoved myself to my feet, wiping the last of the tears away and looking away from her and stopping that train of thought immediately. Then I nuked the station, hoping it would take years to rebuild. Then I wouldn't have to deal with that thought for a while.

"If you tell anyone I was crying, you'll regret it, pus-brain."

She stood up too, but her tone sounded affectionate. "I won't tell, stinkpot."

Ah crap. Little whistling bunnies were rebuilding the first floor of the station. Son of a…

"Looks like you and me finally have something in common."

Now her tone was troubled. I glanced back over, forgetting about my own mental crisis. "What's that?"

"Families we're not sure we want to be a part of," she said, and there was a distinct sense of sadness that annoyed me and made me concerned at the same time.

"The old lady told me you're quitting," I said, searching her expression for changes.

"I'm not quitting," she said defensively. "I'm retiring. You can't quit something you never wanted to do in the first place.

"You can't quit something you've never tried either," I said, irritated. I was going to go back to Ferryport Landing for her, and (did I say for her? I meant to ANNOY her. Yeah.) she was standing there whining about the fairytale business again?

"I tried! But people got hurt when I tried… Look at Mr. Canis, and you!"

I studied her for a moment. She was clearly guilty and ashamed over the fact that people got hurt trying to protect her, and I know she was worried sick over me. That was probably because the poor girl was head over heels in love with me and it was confusing her.

Oh well, time to snap her out of the sad funk.

"Oh, poor Sabrina. Such a walking disaster," I said, noting the hurt in her eyes and wishing I'd worded it differently. "I was there. Mr. Canis didn't get hurt because you were being stupid. You were the one that saved him, and the rest of us. If you hadn't done what you did we'd all be dead. The truth is, and I hate to admit it, but you're a hero and a pretty good one."

Her eyes flickered to mine, then back away. I continued, knowing the words were as true for her as they were for me.

"You help people when no one else can. From what I hear that's what your mother did, too. It's in your blood, and blood isn't something you can walk away from."

She was quiet for a moment, before looking to me with a slight grin. "When did you suddenly become Mister Maturity?"

I laughed, unable to help it. "Don't worry. It won't last."

Thinking fast, I leaned in and belched right in her face, enjoying the look of mild disgust. "See! It's over."

She scowled, then glanced away, expression softening a bit. "So, I guess you're going to have to stay and take over what's left of Faerie."

…She so wanted me!

Before I could answer, shouting interrupted us, and like usual, we decided to go check it out. Maybe I'd make her wait before I told her what I planned to do, anyway. Let her pine for me.

*********

Why is it that Sabrina Grimm can never stay out of trouble?

Oh well. I relaxed, pressing another button on the silver remote in my hands. I was going to keep it as payment for having to save her butt. Again.

She'd nearly given me a heart attack. I'm the one with wings, yet she's the one who jumped on a rope that was _flying away into the sky._I tried not to think about how badly I'd worried when she'd fallen, even knowing I had plenty of time to catch her. She really was going to be the death of me—and to make matters worse, I'd called her 'Sabrina' to her face. Stupid Grimm. At least I'd been close enough to catch her. If she'd been too far down while I'd been heading after Oz, I might have had a corny 'time stopped' moment before watching her fall to her death.

Ugh. Maybe I should just carry a net around with me.

They still hadn't noticed me. Even after the Piggy flew off with his cow, no one had turned to see a giant robot following the car. Oblivious peasants. It gave me more time to reflect. I'd never admit out loud to Grimm that her speech had really moved me. Technically it was her mother's speech, but Grimm seemed oblivious to the fact that along with looks, she'd inherited her mother's charisma.

I couldn't go anywhere in Faerie without hearing about how Veronica Grimm could move the world with her smile and her words. Up until I'd heard the speech, I hadn't been sure what to think about it.

It was clear that one day Sabrina Grimm would be just as great. She'd make a good Qu-

I nuked the station again, ignoring the bunny casualties in my mind. I did _not _need that train of thought!

It wasn't until Marshmallow freaked out in the back seat of the car that Grimm finally turned. I couldn't see her expression or what she was saying, so I filled in the blanks for her.

"Oh Trickster King, I knew you'd come back, what would I ever do without you," I managed in my best high-pitched voice.

"Of course I did, Grimm. Someone needs to save your butt. You may praise me now."

"You're soooo awesome," I continued in the 'Sabrina Grimm' voice. "You were right, I don't need a wand or Uncle Jake, I have the Trickster King!"

Then I laughed. Yeah. Right. If she heard me do that, she'd punch me.

When we finally reached Ferryport Landing, I hopped off the robot and landed near the opening car door, smirking. "Miss me, Grimm?"

She snorted. "I didn't even notice you were gone."

"Ouch," I grabbed my chest. "That one hurt."

She grinned. "So you're staying here, eh?"

"Someone has to save your butt," I said, keeping some of what I said similar to what I'd pretended to say on the giant robot.

Grimm rolled her eyes again, putting a hand on the Marshmallow's head. Then she paused, looking at me with an odd look.

"…What?" I checked myself. I was still in one piece, I wasn't naked at school with no homework…

"Do you smell roses?" Grimm asked, looking at me with genuine confusion.

…_Damn it!_

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky: **So yeah XD It was getting too sad for me so I threw in the thought-train station that was run by bunnehs.

To explain, anything that mentioned 'nuking a station' was in his mind, trying to get rid of any thoughts about making a family with Sabrina :P Anywhoo~ Luvvies, I gotta go work on No Matter What. :P

Dunno what the next chapter's gonna be about yet ^^


	6. Handcuffed to Memory Lane

**A/N:**

**Sky: **Oofah! So, I've been extremely busy with work lately (as has Ayns) and we're on a Harry Potter kick since we went to see the 6th movie. Those factors have delayed the writing a bit. :X So, we'll be starting the new chapter of NMW today (hopefully have it done today) and I'll work on this in the meantime.

**Thank you to the reviewers and the people who nominated us for the newest 'best fic' contest. The déjà vu… XD I asked that "No Matter What" be disqualified, since it just won, so if it ends up on the list, please don't vote for it. :P Although I noticed Musings of a King was nominated, so vote for that all you want! :D (Or my personal choice, "Bittersweet Ending" by Goffygoober)**

**Anyway THANK YOU TO: Schadenfreude62, 12grimmfan21, 4evsSmeds543, Heartofpunks, Trickster Queen464, laddedalada, aliceinblack, MoodyRuby227, Tanglenight, BoOkLuvEr303, IKidnappedSpock, curlscat, Bluestocking inc, RainbowofSmiles16, iD Sisters Grimm iD, dog9girl, Ascaisil, **and **LaVostraAngeloCustode ^^**

Also props to **Schadenfreude62 **for the '5 things that never happened' story. Gave me a bit of inspiration for Puck meeting his future self XD

I was having a bit of trouble thinking of what to do next, when this idea jumped on me like a monkey searching for a shiny. It might not be that long or that good, but I always wondered what was going through Puck's head for this, and I HAD to do it.  
^^

**This scene takes place in the 6****th**** book after Puck and Sabrina steal the weapon from the bank ^^, and also flashbacks other scenes, since none of these scenes seemed long enough to me to fill a chapter on their own. In order for the flashback scenes:**

**1. Book 2, the Wolf telling Puck that 'Love will be the end of him'**

**2. Book 5, Puck meets future Puck and Sabrina**

**3. Book 2, when Puck wakes up to CPR ala Sabrina  
**

Enjoy!

_*********_

_**Musings of a King**_

_**Chapter Six: Handcuffed to Memory Lane**_

_*********_

Ever have an idea so brilliant and simple that you can't resist from doing it? Even though you know it's going to cause a lot of pain? This was one of those times.

I'd had to wait for Grimm to fall completely asleep before my plan could be set in motion. Now, granted she was extremely tired after her night of thievery and mischief, but I didn't want to chance her waking up before the point of no return.

Anything to prolong the moment before she tries to beat my face in, really.

I still wasn't sure where I stood on her actions. She clearly thought that she was the only one who knew what was best. Sometimes I think she needs to be shaken really hard. She just repels common sense. This, coming from the Trickster King! Yeah, it was that bad.

I turned on my side a bit, frowning at her in the dim light. I was pretty annoyed to be growing up, but she was doing it too, and for some reason, I really didn't want her leaving me behind. It was hard to explain. If only she could just stop aging, we could put it on the shelf for a while and not think about it.

Sighing, I moved to sit up and look at her. By this point, our hands were cuffed together, and I wasn't allowed much breathing room.

I felt myself frown, but tried to pretend I was oblivious. She actually looked peaceful in her sleep—but then again she was probably just too tired to shift around a lot. I couldn't help but wonder if she hadn't been out stealing all night, if she would have gone into the bathroom and practiced with makeup.

Blech. I didn't like makeup. It always smelled or felt weird, and rubbed off on other people. It wasn't as bad as glitter—so far Grimm was just playing around with things like lipstick. But still, it made her look all wrong. Was she really that worried about her looks? She'd always seemed pretty confident to me.

I reached out, then hesitated. So much for prolonging my face being in one piece. If I woke her now, not only would she be angry about being handcuffed to me, but the added bonus of not having enough sleep coupled with the shock of waking up abruptly would probably mean a black eye or two.

"Tch," I shrugged, steeling myself for the pain, and then brushed my fingers over her cheek, smoothing her hair off her face.

She mumbled something in her sleep, making me freeze. Luckily, she didn't move again after that, and I yanked my hand back as if it had been burned.

Stupid Grimm.

Sighing, I shifted off of the bed and settled into a rocking chair beside it instead. I didn't really like Grimm's recent actions. Always moping and trying to go behind everyone's backs to do what she thought was right. And her irritation with her sister was probably the worst. She couldn't seem to realize that the Marshmallow wasn't rebelling; she was imitating. It was kinda cute in a way, watching from the outside while Marshmallow dressed and acted more like Grimm.

But really, did the world need two Sabrina Grimms? The answer: an emphatic NO.

It was a shame though, because once Daphne Grimm found out how badly her sister had betrayed her trust, the idolizing was going to wither and die.

I sighed again, then curled up on the rocking chair. Hopefully, I'd be able to sleep and clear my head of all thoughts having to do with Sabrina Grimm. My head, however, had other ideas. It wasn't long before I found myself dreaming away in la-la land, recalling memories and events that were exclusively about Sabrina Grimm. It was almost like one of those TV shows that tried to kill an episode with filler by playing flashbacks to music. Except there was no music, and I wasn't on TV.

*******  
**  
So there I was again—it was becoming a familiar spot, and I was pretty sure my name was on it now. Reserved for Puck, King of Tricksters, Protector of Idiots. Yeah, that sounded like the right title.

Anyway, the spot that I was beginning to recognize as my own personal area, was the nearest spot where danger was about to happen. Usually in front of Sabrina Grimm, or above her. Heck, probably beneath her sometime in the future; she just looked like the kind of girl who'd fall off of or jump off of things and cause me grief. This time, it happened to be in front of her, while I faced down the Big Bad Wolf. And he had the nerve to refer to me as an appetizer? Please! If anything, I'm a full course meal fit for royalty, and nothing less.

"You know me, Wolf," I said, trying to puff up and sound brave. Not that I wasn't brave, but I wanted Grimm to hear my confidence and call me awesome. "You take another step or try to harm anyone here and you will have to answer to me."

Now, I hadn't expected him to cower or anything like that. I knew very well that I looked like a kid with a wooden sword and a bad hair day to the beast. But what I didn't expect was that he would just study me and laugh.

It wasn't even a real laugh—it was more like a taunting chuckle, or an amused guffaw. Un-cool.

"Trickster," he said, sniffing at me a little, as if he smelled something I didn't. "Love will be the end of you."

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa WHAT? Where did he get that one from?! Did I smell like 'Stud' or something? I tried to ignore it, but my face was getting hot and I knew I was blushing. I had to deny everything or risk the blush being read wrong!

"I don't know what you're talking about," I responded quickly. I forced myself not to look at the girl who had been getting on my nerves and thoughts lately.

And then the Wolf did it for me, looking over at Grimm.

Un… Cool!

The Wolf was chuckling again, and I scowled at him in irritation. I wasn't in love, I wasn't going to be in love, and I sure as heck wasn't going to be ended by love. I was just trying to impress Grimm—that was _all. _

"All right, hero," the Wolf taunted. I wanted to smack him right in the face for that one—I was not a hero! "I'm going to make you famous."

Sensing that he was about to attack, I reacted immediately and chose an elephant for my shape, getting the Wolf with my trunk and slamming him up against a wall. When I dropped him, I had a minute to smirk (around my tusks anyway) at the bewildered and stunned look on his face.

_Yep. That's right wolfie, I'm the friggin Trickster KING._"Fantastic!" Rumpelstiltskin cried out. I didn't bother turning to look at him, or trying to figure out why he was cheering for me. I was used to having adoring fans.

"Puck, stop!"

How sweet—Grimm was worried about me getting hurt. I'd just have to show her how I was in total control and in no danger at all.

I turned back into my regular form, grabbing my wooden sword and jamming it against the wolf's belly. He winced, but didn't whine. I'd hoped for more of a flourish and show, but oh well.

"Stay down, dog!" I shouted, smacking him on top of the head with the sword in satisfaction. "Or there'll be no table scraps for you."

I expected some form of submission, but those big blue eyes snapped open, and I sensed the danger before it happened. "You're a funny boy," he laughed. The laugh was accompanied by a sudden burst of speed, and I fell back when he lunged.

My wings burst out on more instinct than anything else, and I quickly headed to the top of the cave, out of reach. The Wolf was trying to get at me, but he couldn't jump high enough.

Laughing in retaliation, I smacked at his paws with my sword—I had the advantage, and we both knew it.

Yeah… A quick note to self would be, any time you have an advantage, don't get too cocky, or you become lunch meat.

I wasn't thinking about that when my wing clipped the ceiling. All I could really think as I was falling back to the ground was "Oh crap oh crap oh crap!"

The fall and being grabbed by the Wolf dazed me enough that I wasn't really aware of what was happening. I could hear the Marshmallow trying to reason with the beast, and I could hear the old lady freaking out. Grimm was the only one I couldn't really see or hear.

The moment the Wolf dropped me, I shook it off and ran to the nearest large rock, picking it up. "Hey, Wolf, you ever hear of a game called dodgeball?" The name alone filled me with glee. Humans weren't good for much, but whoever invented the game of hitting people in the FACE with projectiles for sport—well, they were awesome.

"Death is moments away for you and you want to discuss a child's game?" The Wolf laughed.

I was really getting tired of that laugh.

Lobbing the boulder at him, I grinned in satisfaction. That one had gotten him right in the chest. "I don't want to talk about it!" I shouted, getting another really big rock. "I want to play it!"

The next one was launched before the Wolf could recover, and I was already going for another when I heard Grimm again.

"Puck! _Stop!"_Okay, that didn't sound like fear for my wellbeing. And it certainly wasn't the fawning cheer I was looking for.

I dropped the rock and turned to her in confusion, seeing my reflection in her eyes. Yep. I looked confused. Good.

She looked worried. What the crap.

"Uh, I'm trying to save your life, Grimm," I said. Maybe she was the confused one. Of course, it was then I realized that I _had _stopped when she'd said to.

Man… It was at that moment that I really hoped the Wolf had been wrong. If I ever did fall in love, it would probably be with Sabrina Grimm—and if that was the case, love really was going to end me. Either by my choice (because hey, I don't want to fall in love, and especially not with her!) or by hers.

Her reply was lost to fuzziness as the dream shifted, and I found myself floating out of that memory and into another.

*********

Officially, in four thousand and some years of life, you can make a list of things you've done or never done. One list will be big, the other will be small.

I could now officially cross 'get sucked into a vortex and pushed back out by a house' off the list of 'never done'.

I was still feeling a little itchy from being stuck in a vortex of doom (or time travel, take your pick) and I was ignoring the mushy display in the background. Cinderella found her prince, yada yada. Now they were both old. Yuck.

I glanced over at Grimm to see if she was crying like most girls might, but her attention was on someone else.

I turned to see a dashingly handsome and cocky looking blonde man with fairy wings like mine. He approached me, and I just gaped. I didn't like him. Way too cocky, and Grimm was goggling over him.

Before I could tell him to get lost, he spoke, and I recognized his voice. My own had started cracking and changing. And after hearing the voice coming out of the blonde guy's mouth, I realized that mine would probably sound like that in a few years. Oh crap—the guy I didn't like on sight just happened to be me. How did that even work?

"Hello, Trickster King."

I wanted to say something like "Yo, Trickster King", but I was pretty sure Grimm would smack me, so I continued to gape.

"Try to be nicer to Sabrina," he said to me with a chuckle. "She's going to be important to you in the future, and trust me, she'll never forgive you for gluing her head to that basketball."

I felt myself grin. "I never glued her head to a basketball!"

"You're giving him ideas!" The older Grimm (who looked really good, not that I'd admit it out loud) admonished my future self.

I just grinned. Clearly, Grimm and I didn't hate each other, and our relationship hadn't changed in the future. I was clearly a hero, but maybe Grimm had become my sidekick. She certainly did look up at my future self in adoration—or maybe…

NO. WAY. My future self didn't pull me aside and shout 'get out while you can', so there was no way I'd entertain the idea that Grimm and I had become something… More. Not yet.

That thought had barely formed before the dream shifted, jarring into the next memory.

*********

WHAM.

Ever have one of those moments where you just stop and think… How did I get here? How did this happen?

Okay, I was having both of those moments, as well as 'what did I just fly into'.

It felt a little like I was floating, or caught in a large bathtub drain. Everything felt light and fuzzy, and all I could recall was telling Grimm that I planned on dropping her and the Marshmallow into the water.

Oh yeah—insane rabbits or something, those were chasing us. And once again, I had to play hero.

Logically, I guess I'd slammed into the barrier. Grimm was distracting enough that I'd forget that kinda thing so I could argue with her, I guess.

But what now?

Something felt nice. Well, better than nice, I guess. And a bit uncomfortable, but still, it didn't have to stop.

Then the pressure started on my chest. One, two, three… About fifteen small pushes. What the…

There it was again—that nice feeling.

And then I realized that 'nice' feeling happened to be Sabrina Grimm's cootie-flavored lips on mine.

Eyes flying open, I shoved her off. "I'm contaminated!" I yelped, turning and wiping my mouth off.

"Puck, you're alive!"

The hug was small and marshmallowy, so I knew it wasn't Grimm. Good. I didn't have to shove it off and roll around in some mud. Still, I crawled to my feet while she hung onto my midsection. "Of course I'm alive!"

Wincing at an ache in my wing, I shifted them back in so I wouldn't have to deal with them. "I happen to be immortal."

"We thought… You were… I tried," Grimm was stammering.

Was she blushing?! That confirmed it—I knew exactly what she'd been _trying _to do!

"You thought you'd give me a kiss while I was vulnerable," I accused. I also managed a pretty good 'indignant' tone. "I guess I'm going to have to stop taking baths if you can't keep your hands to yourself."

Okay that last line was probably a mistake. She looked even more angry than before. It was kinda cu—

NOT. CUTE.

This was all the Old Lady's fault. If she hadn't made me take the baths, the Marshmallow wouldn't have alerted Grimm to the obvious fact that I am indeed, a hottie—and then I wouldn't be covered in cooties.

Oh well. Grimm had to find out sooner or later—now if only she could control her silly human infatuations and stop attacking me.

*********

I was awakened by my arm being nearly yanked out of socket, and then my body crashing onto the ground. Although technically the shrill scream of "PUCK" had probably woken me first, I was completely aware by the time she fell on me.

I rubbed sleep from my eyes with one hand, resisting the urge to grin at just how angry she was. "What's the story, morning glory?"

"What is this about?" Grimm demanded, raising her hand and shaking the handcuff I'd attached. My arm shook too. I wanted to laugh.

"Unfortunately, it's necessary. You don't want to work with my security staff, so from now on I'm going to be your personal bodyguard." From now on? Hadn't I always been? "I'm going to be with you every second of the day."

"This is insanity," she said immediately, struggling to get her wrist out.

Hah. Good luck. I'd picked high-quality heavy duty ones, just in case she decided to use some secret cootie-acid to dissolve them. And they were iron-free, which was a bonus for me!

"Trust me," I said, trying to let her know it wasn't exactly a picnic for me. "Being downwind of you twenty-four hours a day is not what I call a good time, but you've left me no choice."

She screamed—music to my ears. Only the music had the added effect of SCREECHING PAIN, too. "Give me the key!"

I reached into my pocket, appearing unfazed at the ringing in my ears. "Is this what you want?"

"Give it to me, pus face!"

"Are you going to work with your bodyguards?" I taunted.

"Forget it. You're not going to blackmail me!"

Well, that made it her own fault, not mine. I put the key in my mouth and swallowed it without a second thought. Her next scream was louder.

"Are you deranged?!" She staggered to her feet and dragged me along for the ride. At first, I thought it was funny—then I got a better idea, and halted her advance.

She turned in anger, then tugged harder until I gave up and let her drag me out of the room.

Best. Idea. EVER.

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky: **lol okay so, that was pretty random, I'm sorry XD I just had ideas floating around that I wanted to do, and I didn't know how to sort it out. So I flashbacked 3 small scenes into his dreams while he was waiting for Sabrina to wake up. It's like 4 chapters in one!

…And they all suck a little! XD Oh well, I had fun writing it, so hopefully it came out better than I think it did. Then again I might just be skeptical cause I did this in about an hour while I was at work. I had the URRRRRGGGEEEE to write. XD

R/R, luvvies, and look forward to a new chapter of No Matter What soon!


	7. Was That Panda Mocking Me?

**A/N:**

**Sky: **K so, I've been having a bit of laziness on this story lately because I've been really into Percy Jackson and the Olympians lately, and No Matter What's plot has picked up to the point where I'm all excitable. Since Ayns and I are ironing out the next chapter while FF goes into a glitchfest, I decided I may as well try and put up another chapter of this. Sorry to all the people who sent messages telling us that FF wasn't letting them review, or the people who reviewed that we didn't reply to. Seems the site has gone up its own butt for a bit :X We started getting the reviews in e-mails again, so thank you everyone who stuck with it to review ^^

**Thank you to the reviewers since chapter 6 went up: Schadenfreude62, Trickster Queen464, Blue-Eyed-Lily, redfirepixie318, msjezzi-bella, ladedalada, Lara D, Hypocritically Her, Lyla Domae, Lumiere Nordiques, heartofpunks, grimmgirl, Ascaisil, RainbowofSmiles16, Hippiegirl321995, Horsegirl99, Kendran, Tanglenight, and broken beyond repair. **^^

That bein' said, enjoy!

**Oh yeah, this chapter takes place during book 6 while Puck and Sabrina are handcuffed to each other. :3**

_*********_

_**Musings of a King**_

_**Chapter Seven: Was That Panda Mocking Me?**_

_*********_

I missed my footie-pajamas.

That was the main thought I focused on while I lay on my back on the trampoline, staring up at the sky. Sleep? Yeah right. The source of my most infuriating and flustering confusion was handcuffed to me, just a few feet away. If I didn't focus on things like why I didn't want to be seen in my footie-pajamas or what Marshmallow sounded like when she snored, I was just going to think about her even more.

Then again, the whole reason I'd abandoned the pajamas was so she wouldn't think I was immature.

Bah! We both know I'm immature. And proud!

I scowled at the thought, then craned my head a little, glancing over the Marshmallow's messy hair. She didn't look like she was asleep, but her eyes were closed. Well, crap, now I couldn't stop looking. And despite the fact that she couldn't see me, I frowned at her, hoping she'd feel guilty. I'd even had to kick her earlier for pouring it on thick when the Marshmallow had felt bad about the bank. I couldn't even figure out how she could look at herself in the mirror with the way she lied and used the people around her. Her grandma, her sister… And me too.

"You awake?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

"Yes," she answered simply and quickly. Just like that, the silence was broken and I couldn't let it go back.

"When are you going to tell her what you did?" I asked, getting right to the point. I could practically feel her scowl directed at my face.

"Maybe you should mind your own business."

Typical. I laughed. "As if I could around this place. Every time I turn around the two of you are facing down death—monsters, robots, dragons. Saving your butts is a full-time job," I replied, rolling my eyes and mocking her.

Good touch, too. It pissed her off more.

"Then why don't you go back to being a villain? I liked you a lot better when you weren't trying to save us."

Ungrateful little snot…

"I'll go back to being a villain if you go back to the way you were," I said simply, knowing I was about to slap her in the face with words.

"And how was I, Mr. Smarty Pants?" She asked, right on schedule.

"For one," I said, wishing I could see her reaction. "You were honest."

Her silence said more than enough to me—I'd gotten her and she had no good retort. When she finally did speak, it was lame and grudging. "You're one to talk."

I chuckled, glancing back up at the night sky wistfully. "I am a lot of things, Sabrina—mischievous, mean-spirited, gassy—but they don't make me a bad person. They make me immature," I admitted. I wasn't sure why I'd used her name again… Maybe so she'd take me seriously and listen to what I had to say for once. "You, however, are skating very close to the line. You stole from someone who trusted you and then you lied about it."

I felt her wrist shift, knowing at once she wanted to get up and run away. Yeah, truth hurts, doesn't it?

In any case, she couldn't go anywhere, not without taking me with her, and I wasn't budging.

"I did what I had to do," she said finally. "Daphne would never have gone to get the weapon. Mr. Canis could eat Granny, Elvis, and half of Ferryport Landing and she would still totally trust him. I'm the only one who sees what he's becoming."

She had half a point there—the Marshmallow was too trusting. Sometimes, she reminded me of Snow White. Not the ass-kicking, kung fu-fighting, bitch-slapping William Charming off the globe, in-your-face, hardcore chick she was now—but the innocent and naïve little girl who had gotten herself killed like four times by the same person. Three or four; like I kept track of how often someone choked on an apple or suffocated via corseted ribbons. In any case, the Marshmallow was like that. She liked to look for the good in people, even when they didn't deserve it.

A part of me had to wonder if the reason Sabrina Grimm was so jaded and balancing on the wrong side of the tracks was because she was the one who had to keep the Marshmallow looking through rose-tinted glasses. Just how much had Grimm sheltered her sister from, anyway?

"Who's arguing with you about that? It's obvious to most of us that furface is in trouble," I answered with a troubled look on my face. "I won't even say you're wrong about wanting to do something about it."

"Then what's the lecture for?"

Ah. The dense Grimm we all know and lo—

Nevermind.

"The lecture's because the way you are going about these things kinda stinks. It's all nice and noble of you to want to do the right thing, even if I do think it's stupid. But if the only way to make something good happen is to do something bad, then maybe it's not worth it," I said quietly.

How many times had I learned that very lesson? It wasn't something Grimm needed to deal with… It really wasn't.

She didn't answer, turning her head away from me completely now. Could she see me? Did she notice that I was being completely sincere? I wasn't sure if I wanted her to see it or not. Then I'd have to admit to some degree that I gave a crap about her.

Who was I kidding? It was getting to a ridiculous point. I'd bet if her parents woke up, they'd look over and be like "RAWR WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU ALL GOOEY FOR OUR DAUGHTER RAAAWR."

Well, maybe a bit less rawr. But still.

I sighed softly and glanced back towards Grimm. "But what do I know? I'm not supposed to be a good person. But you are. You're Sabrina Grimm," I said, not wanting her to be completely discouraged. "and your sister worships you. You're supposed to be a good role model to her. Don't you think it's kind of odd that the Prince of Juvenile Delinquents is teaching you right from wrong?" I chided. I wanted her to say something.

She remained silent, and I shifted, going completely still. One flick of my hand and it would be holding hers. Ack. Bad thoughts. The train-station-building-bunnies really needed to go catch fire.

Why couldn't Grimm see how her actions messed with the rest of us? Was she that self-centered?

Meh. Probably. She needed a rude awakening… Bad. And I knew it was coming soon, because she wouldn't be able to keep the weapon a secret for that long.

I hated how often I thought about Grimm—especially because my thoughts kept going back to the Grimm I'd never met. What had she been like at nine, before her parents had vanished and she'd become the big girl of the house? Had she been more like the Marshmallow, excited by little things and easily pleased? Maybe even a crybaby? Anything but a cynical little girl in shoes that were way too big?

I could still hear her breathing. She wasn't asleep, probably thinking about what I'd said. Or maybe wishing she could steal away to the bathroom and put her mother's lipstick on again. Ugh. Moth kissed my face once with that crap on. Sparkly lip gloss, she'd called it.

Lip gloss? Yeah RIGHT. Try sticky foundation of evil, spread through contact to smell like strawberries and butterflies (did butterflies have a scent?) with enough glitter to blind someone. I'd rolled around in the mud for about a week and the pixies STILL found glitter on my face.

I had to suppress an involuntary shudder at the memory. Happy thoughts, Puck. Happy thoughts.

Oddly enough, that just made me turn to look at Grimm again.

Sighing inwardly in defeat, I squinted in the dark, able to make out the sight of her face. Her eyes were still open, and her expression was troubled. Great. Now I felt guilty. Stupid freaking hormones and aging and all that girl-cootie voodoo.

"By the way," I said, keeping my voice soft so I didn't startle her. Didn't work. She jumped a bit. "You don't need the makeup."

I couldn't see her expression change much, but she did shift a few times. Then she turned to look at me, and my cheeks felt hot. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid Grimm and her stupid face! When the Trickster King starts telling Sabrina Grimm she looks pretty, someone needs to intervene and smack him!

"I kinda wish I hadn't said that," I admitted out loud when she turned to look at me.

She bit her lip a little. "Me too."

Oh thank god.

"Would it help if I said you were a stinky, muck-covered toad-face?" I asked hopefully. Neither of us needed the complication. Maybe once the Scarlet Hand was blown up or something, I'd reconsider opening this topic again. For now, I needed us to go back to normal.

When she nodded and edged away from me, I turned and did the same. I immediately scowled silently. My panda (the one I had shooed away from the trampoline so we could sleep on it) was looking at us, and I swear that jerk's black and white face was mocking me.

He wiggled for a moment, then headed off to sleep again. Well, I hope he was heading off to sleep. If he went and told the chimps about what had just happening, I was going to have me some Chinese food.

…Are pandas even Chinese?

*********

**A/N:**

**Sky: **XD I don't actually know if Pandas are Chinese. But it felt like a fun thing to add. Anyway sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted to do that scene because I love it. And sorry I don't update this much, I'd much rather focus on No Matter What and the one-shots we're doing for our review-game-winners.

Speaking of, Reviews appreciated ^^ Thank you and luvvies!


	8. The Puberty Virus

**A/N:**

**Sky: **Sorry it's been a while :X We're working on NMW and 48 Hours more. Also I think I'm stressing Ayns out, and she doesn't feel as appreciated as she should. So if you swing by NMW and 48 Hours, don't forget there are two people writing that one. She needs some love.

Anywhoo I think we're gonna push our updating to only once a week. I know, I'm sorry, but school started for most of the readers, and we're super busy too. So we might just update on Saturdays or Fridays, unless we have a burst of happy writing and want to get chapters out faster. We also gotta figure out the other one-shots and get those done.

**This short chapter takes place in book 7 when Puck, Sabrina, Red, and Daphne are listening in on Charming's conversation with Relda, when Sabrina accidentally admits their marriage plans.**

**_*****_**

**_Musings of a King_**

**_Chapter Eight: The Puberty Virus_**

**_*****_**

Why is it I always seem to find myself surprised by Grimm's attitude? Just when I think maybe she's stopped being a brat, she proves me wrong—and the kicker? It always shocks me. You'd think I'd learn by now.

Case in point, while standing with her, the Marshmallow, and the psycho, (okay so I haven't decided what to call Red Riding Hood yet, and the last time I saw her prior to the new and improved Red? A Jabberwocky ripped off my wings. So yeah, there's a bit of tension. I won't set her off by saying it out loud though. She'd kill me in my sleep.) I expected Grimm to freak out about the psycho not remembering who the Master was. All the accusations and demands were normal for her.

But then I heard the one that got _my _interest in the conversation.

"Daphne, she's got to remember. Stopping the Master will end all this nonsense. The town will go back to normal and we can go back to New York City."

I looked up, frowning at Grimm, trying to see if she was kidding. She wasn't. And here I'd thought she was over the whole 'must escape' mentality.

"What? You don't want to stay?" I asked, feeling stupid the moment the words were out of my mouth.

"Duh," she responded, spinning to face me as she said it. _Ouch, _by the way. "I've wanted to get out of this town since the first day I stepped into it." _Ouch, _again. "My mom and dad were supposed to make that happen but of course Everafters get in the way." _OUCH._Pushing back the hurt and letting the anger out instead, I scowled at her. "Don't _duh _me!" I snapped. "Trying to figure out what you're thinking from one day to the next takes more brains than I have."

…That didn't come out right.

"Well, maybe you should stop. I'd hate to burn out that little peanut in your head," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"You wish you were more like me, Grimm. I'm magnificent," I said, adding a puff to my chest. When in doubt, act confident. And piss off your foe.

"Magnificently smelly. I doubt too many people would list themselves as exceptional when their greatest talent is eating with their feet!"

My greatest talent was _not _eating with my feet! It was making an ass out of myself by trying to keep her safe. What an ingrate. For the first time in quite a while, I could feel my temper rising and trying to tell me I didn't like her at all. I'd be better off if she'd drop dead. Except the idea of her actually dying just re-routed my thoughts back to wanting to protect her.

_Damn it!_

I heard the Marshmallow giggle, and directed my glare her way. At least it shut her up. Bad enough I was being insulted by the one person I was starting to care about, (AGH.) but it was even worse to know I had an audience for it.

Right before I could retort, the psycho (who didn't know as well as the Marshmallow yet when she should or shouldn't provoke the King) opened _her _mouth. "Are you two in love or something?"

The shock and audacity of the question froze me for many reasons—not to mention it sent the Marshmallow rolling on the ground and laughing her fluffy little head off. My first thought was 'How did she figure it out?!', before I realized she didn't actually know what I was thinking. I mean, of course Grimm is in love with me. Who wouldn't be? But no one had ever correctly guessed that I might be developing feelings for _her! _

I had to think fast. I had to stop anyone from realizing what my silence meant, most of all, Grimm!

I turned back to her, but she seemed to be having a similar problem. And she spoke in a panicked, rushed voice. "In love? As if! How on earth we end up getting married is beyond me!"

What?

"How could I have held my nose long enough to get through the ceremony?"

_What?  
_  
"Ugh!"

_…What?!  
_  
The silence was incredible. I stared at her numbly as the words sank in, while she stared right back in horror. My first thought in that moment was that she had to be joking. She was trying to prank me, Throw me off. Confuse me.

But wait, that little voice in my head urged me. Why would she look so horrified at her own words if it was all a joke?

I didn't really have 'flashbacks' often, but in that moment, I experienced a very vivid one. Meeting a cocky man who looked way too comfortable with the older version of Grimm. The grown up me. And Grimm hadn't been surprised by his identity—she'd spent more time around the future selves, hadn't she?

She'd withheld information.

While she closed her eyes, I could feel my face slowly changing, from taunting to horrified. And angry.

When she opened her eyes, I glared fiercely at her, letting her know I was not happy. "MARRIED?!"

The Marshmallow tried to stop the explosion, but no amount of intervention was going to help now. "It's nothing!" she said.

She'd known too?! Urgh…

My wings popped out, practically vibrating and lifting me off of the ground. When I managed to get them to stop, I simply hovered. "Tell me now!"

Grimm stammered, probably embarrassed at having her plans revealed, but the Marshmallow explained.

"Do you remember when Cinderella's husband built the time machine that nearly ate the town? Well, we got pulled into it a couple times and saw the future and-"

"NO!" I cut her off. It was my worst nightmare, and she was confirming my own guesses.

She nodded back at me. "You two are married in the future!"

I felt my wings flap so hard they tried to detach themselves. "I'm a little boy!" I argued. "Little boys do not get married."

"You grew up."

All my attention deflected to Grimm again. She was blushing badly. "You grew up."

Now, logically, I tried to remind myself that I knew I'd eventually grown up. In theory. I'd met my future self, I'd heard my own voice changing, assuming one day I'd poof into an adult.

But grow up? I didn't want to…

I know I had to look sad. I felt like a kicked puppy. That's what I was. A kicked 'pucky'.

"What would make me do that?" I asked. They had the answers. They'd been into the future.

When the Marshmallow only pointed at Grimm, I scowled. That was not an answer! And definitely not the answer I wanted. "I would never do that!"

"You're already doing it," the Marshmallow pointed out. "Haven't you noticed you've gotten taller lately? I heard Granny tell Mr. Canis you were going through puberty."

That word. I'd heard it a few times, but I had no idea what it actually meant.

"What's that?" I asked, glaring fiercely at Grimm. What right did she have, turning me into some kind of hero, treating me the way she did, and now saying I had to _marry her?! _Saying I was going to grow up?!It had to be her plan. She'd infected me with a virus—what had they called the process? Puberty? That had to be it. She'd purposefully infected me with the puberty virus so she could have me for herself! It had to be wrong. There was _no way! _

Marshmallow looked over at Grimm, who was clearly still pissed off about the fact that the Marshmallow was trying to become independent and snubbing her.

"Oh, now I'm good for definitions? Puberty is when a child starts to become an adult. You're going to get taller and grow hair on your face and get zits," she said, glaring up at me.

"This puberty you speak of—it must be triggered by some kind of disease. You've given me your cooties, dogface!" I roared. I waited for her to deny infecting me, or even reveal her plan, but the answer she gave was neither.

"Puck, you're not sick."

How dare she?! Of course I had to be sick. There was no other explanation!

"I am the Trickster King! I am a villain. I am the King of Loafers, the Prince of Low Expectations! The spiritual guide for millions of complainers, criminals, and convicts! Villains do not get married. They do not get zits. You have poisoned me, Sabrina Grimm. This means war!" I shouted in frustration.

"War?" she echoed, looking pretty stupid. I wanted to shake her.

"Yes, war! And when I'm done you'll wish the Scarlet Hand had gotten you first!"

Unable to take it anymore, I flew at top speeds, straight up into the sky. I had to think. I needed a plan. I couldn't go down without a fight.

There was no way I wanted to grow up for Grimm. I didn't care if the time of my growing up coincided with her needing a bodyguard twenty-four/seven, and I didn't care if the facts were telling me those Grimm sisters had to be right.

The station reappeared in my mind, bunnies all scowling at me. The sign that said 'do not build here' was in flames, and I could find myself going back to that thought. That being with Sabrina Grimm might not be so bad. Sure she was annoying, loud, stubborn, and hated my kind with the fiery passion of a thousand _HELLS, _but beyond that, she really was pretty cute. And blonde like me…

No. I slammed the red light back on, halting those thoughts. I wasn't going to go down without a fight!

But…

The worst part was, I wasn't sure if I minded the whole going down thing. Losing the fight.

_'No,' _I told myself, scowling at no one in particular. I wasn't going to give in. If puberty wanted me, puberty had to take me kicking and screaming. I would pull out all the stops, and torment Grimm until she fixed the curse, the disease…

Or I'd have one last hoorah of the Trickster King before admitting defeat once again to Sabrina Grimm.

*********

**A/N: **

**Sky:** Short chappy. I'm sick :/ And stressed. And I couldn't drag out this scene without repeating myself a lot. Also I re-read the chili-dog thing. Blech. I really hated book 7 XD

**Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers since chapter 7 went up!: broken beyond repair, Sabrina2B, Coraline Pevensie, Dragonfly, puckabrina, msjezzi-bella, Bluestocking inc, Blue-Eyed-Lily, xxPrincessOfTheOceanxx, Mystestar, grimmgirl, FullHouseandPixarLover, MoodyRuby227, Trickster Queen464, curlscat, Katie, Ascaisil, A CertainPeanutButterSandwich, Hypocritically Her, WingedRabbit, gothicgall000, Anon, Harmony352, Anonymous, RainbowofSmiles16, **and **Tanglenight ^^**

**Again, sorry it's so short XD Thanks for reading.**


	9. Snowball: Part One

**A/N:**

**Sky: **Holy crap it's been a while. Sorry XD I've just been so busy, and to be honest, I didn't like the 8th book. Puck redeemed it a bit, but overall, it just annoyed me. There were a few scenes I wanted to work with, but the rest had to be glossed because I couldn't do a scene every time Puck was adorable. So here's part one :3 (I don't know if it's gonna be a two-part or a three-part for all of book 8. We'll see when I wake up.

Also if you like Avatar: The Last Airbender and you're fond of the Freedom Fighters, I'm working on a story for them too :3 mmm Longshot/Bee. My obsession pairing. Anyway, hope this doesn't suck, inspiration struck at 3 AM and wouldn't stfu. ^^

_***.*.*.*.***_

_**Musings of a King**_

_**Chapter Nine: Snowball**_

_**Part One: Wife is a Fancy Word for 'Slave'**_

_***.*.*.*.***_

Have you ever had a situation snowball out of your control, so tantalizingly within your reach, only to plummet out of your grasp at the very last second? That's pretty much where I was. Having officially said 'screw it' to fighting my growing affection for a certain blonde Grimm with a wicked right hook, I'd had to study (yes, ME, STUDY.) this whole marriage business.

Finding out that a wife's duty included _obey… _It was like Christmas morning all over again. Wife was just a fancy word for slave. And what could be more awesome than having Grimm as my slave?

So I'd gone with it. I was already along for the puberty ride, so why not? And girls, don't they like that mushy romantic crap? I mean, I'd let Grimm wake me up, I followed her to make sure she didn't get into trouble, and then we'd ended up, as usual, in some kind of mess. Seriously, Grimm needs to wear a bell or something. I need more preparation for her shenanigans.

But back to the point. You'd think Grimm would have been happy for me to accept my fate. Accept that somehow, she tricks me into marrying her and becoming a… urgh… a husband. But no, the minute I accept it and start talking about our wedding, she freaks out. I think at this point, the Marshmallow wants us to get married more. Of course, she was always kinda like that, but c'mon. The kid's messed up in the head. She has rainbow vision or something.

So I figured it had to be my attitude. Future Husbands couldn't go around calling their betrothed names like 'ugly'. And I couldn't call her Grimm anymore, at least not to her face. So I'd done the manly duty of picking out petnames, and I'd tried them out. Go figure, she seemed to hate all of those too. So clearly, being nice had done me no good, but being cruel wasn't helping either. Maybe being slightly mean would work?

I mean, I still saved her life whenever she needed it, and boy does she always need it, but the emotional crap? Well, calling her sweet-honey-lovey-cakes was probably just gonna piss her off, so I'd laughed at her. Looking back, I should have probably been a bit nicer to her while she'd been crying. She'd been scared and confused, and quite frankly, she wasn't the Sabrina Grimm I knew best. She was supposed to be able to take charge and keep us in line, but she wasn't doing that.

Forget her tricking me into marrying her—how was I supposed to get her to want to marry me? None of it made sense. We didn't like each other. She seemed to outright hate me. What could possibly happen that could cause a wedding?

Well, the snowball kept rolling. Finding Mirror had sucked. The third brat thought the guy was his daddy, and despite my valiant efforts, I wound up getting my ass handed to me. Despite the outright creepiness of it all, I was still willing to fight. Grimm—Sabrina—Sugarlips—whatever I was calling her, even if she was mad at me, was still mine to protect. If the Marshmallow hadn't told her to hand the kid over, I'd have had to fight through everyone in the room most likely. But I would have done it.

Lately, I found out there were few things on the list of 'what I wouldn't do for Sabrina Grimm'. It's pretty annoying when I think about it, but as I said. Snowball. I didn't stop this baby from rolling down the hill, and by this point, the damn thing would knock me over if I tried to stop it. And probably take me with it. Slamming me into the ground and burying me all along the way.

So there we were, marching along in another stupid story. She'd already fainted once since giving back her brother, so I had an extra eye on her. She'd seemed even more upset when Lampwick had left us, but I didn't expect her to suddenly collapse in sobs. That wasn't like her at all. What was I supposed to do for her?

"Sabrina!" The Marshmallow of course, was the first person to try and help her sister.

"What did I do, Daphne? I gave him back to Mirror!"

Right. She hadn't just surrendered her brother to the villain—she'd actually gotten her brother in her arms and felt what it was like to rescue him. And then she'd handed him right back. It must have felt like ground zero. Like we'd made no progress. I tried not to cringe.

"I told you to! We had no choice."

"How could I do that?"

Jeez. She wasn't even listening to her sister. I clenched my jaw at the sight of her distress. I always hated seeing her in distress. Being nice, being mean, being cruel, joking—none of it worked for her when she got like this. At least not in this wretched book.

"He was going to let people die," The Marshmallow's voice was soft. Trying to convince Sabrina.

"What if we don't get him back?" Sabrina sounded soft now too.

Sabrina… so I was back to that now, was I? Fine. I moved just a little closer, looking down at her. "We will get him back. I will make sure of it."

She turned and looked up at me, and for a moment, I thought she was going to tell me where to shove it. The look in her eyes changed from 'grrr I will bite you' to some kind of bewildered confusion. Okay, reassurance was definitely the way to go in this crappy place.

"You sacrificed him for us all, including me. I will repay that debt. No harm will come to your brother. The Trickster King makes his vow," I told her seriously. Promises were very serious to my kind, and damn it, if Sabrina wanted her brother safe, I was going to make her brother safe. I wasn't sure how yet, but I liked to figure things out as I went. It worked for me.

"You're not alone here, Sabrina," The Marshmallow added. "We're here. We're a team. And we all would have done the same thing. You heard the Editor. Mirror's story is off-limits. He can't get into it, so whatever he has planned for Carmine can't be done anyway."

Sabrina and I shared a moment of mutual 'the crap?' the touching moment gone. I broke it first.

"Carmine?"

"Fine, Baby X is his name! Are you two happy?" Seeing the Marshmallow huff like that brought a grin to my face. More than that, it made Sabrina laugh. I could feel the grin getting wider and I didn't care about stopping it.

"Baby X is worse than Carmine."

I joined the Marshmallow in a laugh. Sabrina had a point. Baby X? Sometimes, I wondered if the Marshmallow thought in sparkly sticker form. Ask her a question, and her brain opened like a giant sticker book. Maybe rainbows popped out of it. And sunshine. And puppies.

Pushing the thought back with a snicker, I turned back to Sabrina. She certainly looked like she was in higher spirits. I had to keep it going—stop her from dwelling.

"All right, enough of the boo-hoo faces." Sabrina's boo-hoo face mainly. I hated that expression on her. "Let's get back to work. There will be plenty of time for personal disappointments when we get married."

"It sounds charming," Sabrina's voice was dry. "But that's also why I would never marry you no matter what!"

Huh. What did it take? Maybe I needed to remind her that neither of us seemed to have a choice in the matter.

"Sorry," I chuckled as I spoke, unable to help myself from grinning at her expression. "Fate has us forever intertwined."

She rolled her eyes and turned back to her sister to ignore me. "Daphne, you said you've read this story. Fill us in on what we're missing."

"I know that eventually Pinocchio turns into a donkey. Then he gets sold to the circus. Then his owner tries to drown him in the ocean—"

"That's nice! What kind of children's story is this?"

Didn't she ever learn. Fairytales _weren't _children's stories. They were more like horror stories half the time. The creepiest pictures even made it into my scrapbook—a book that I never wanted Sabrina to see, mind you. While the majority happened to be filled with awesome illustrations of monsters chewing on human bones or creepy old hags casting spells, or whatever other horrors you could find in a fairytale… well, recently, I'd started collecting pictures. At first, the pictures had documented my awesome pranks. I had some great ones of Sabrina with her hair all wild. She looked like she'd come out of a Dragonball Z episode.

Then I'd gone on to collect pictures of the other great things I'd done. Soon enough, the pictures hadn't had anything to do with pranks at all. I just had pictures of the Grimms. Of Sabrina. And somehow, most of them made it into my book. I tried telling myself it was in case she got herself killed—I'd want to remember how fun it was to annoy her. But now that I accepted the whole wedding thing, I knew I'd need the pictures for sentimental crap.

Maybe I'd just make a Sabrina scrapbook and keep it separate from my current one. She'd probably take offense to having her picture in a book reserved for the creepiest and grossest things I'd ever documented.

I wasn't really paying attention to them at this point, just nodding and following along. I had my own thoughts to deal with.

First and foremost—if I didn't really want to marry Sabrina, and she didn't want to marry me, how did we even end up getting married? The only explanation was that one of us had to be lying, but it wasn't me. Couldn't be me. No way it could be me. It had to be her. Of course she wanted me. She couldn't hide it. Haha. Yeah! It was her.

She was lying, she wanted me, and I was gonna get a brand new slave out of it. Win-win situation, right?

Of course! There was no way it could turn out badly for me. She was a liar, I was accepting my fate, and in the end, it would be marriage.

Or maybe I was lying, and I tricked her into the marriage to get my slave? No, it was an honor to serve me. I didn't need to trick her. I couldn't be the one lying.

…Or maybe we both were.

Well, crap. The snowball was picking up speed.

***.*.*.*.***

**A/N:**

**Sky:**

Well, I'm tired as hell and I didn't even check for typos XD I'm sorry, but if I don't post it now, I dunno when I will. I have my Birthday tomorrow and then I go back to work. Bleh. I'll be focusing more on my Avatar story and the one-shots, but I have the next chapter of MoaK planned. As much as I hate having to reread the 8th book to get these scenes…


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